Story Starts
by Baron Zed
Summary: These are a collection of story fragments. Some of them were put here because I will not be continuing them. Others may be continued as I have time and inclination. Categories currently include Naruto, Ranma, Harry Potter, and Worm. Summaries for individual fragments are in my profile. Now posted: Jedification Chapter 2.
1. Introduction

This "story" will include a collection of what I call story starts. Some of them were stories that I started, but stalled out on. Others will be stories that I may continue at a later time. At the present, I have at least two, but probably three story fragments that I will upload. I have more story starts that I could upload, but I don't know if they are at a point where I will. I find that I have more ideas for settings and scenarios than actual plots. This is why these are not being published as actual stories.

The first two story starts are my first two fan fiction attempts. These will not be continued. Past that, any entries may be.

Any of my entries may be adopted by someone else if they feel like it. I would appreciate a credit and a pm if you do. Regardless, as a fan fiction writer, I'd feel pretty hypocritical denying anyone permission to write fan fiction of my fan fiction.


	2. Secret of the Fox Chapter 1

**The Secret of the Fox**

 **Summary:** After the encounter at the Valley of the End with Sasuke, Tsunade calls Naruto into her office to tell him a secret that the Third had left for his successors.

* * *

Naruto and his friends were created by by Kishimoto Masashi. This is fan fiction.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This is the first fanfic that I wrote. I'd like to think that I've improved since then. This story start will have multiple entries.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was bored. The hyperactive blond thirteen-year old was pacing around his hospital room. This was his third day there and he wanted out. He rubbed his whisker birthmarks, adjusted the Leaf Badge he wore on his forehead, and then fiddled with a pocket on his orange jumpsuit as he paced. His teammate and "best friend" Uchiha Sasuke had put his lightning-encased fist through his stomach as the final statement in their argument on whether Sasuke would defect from Konoha or not. For most, the blow would have been fatal, but Naruto had a very powerful healing factor courtesy of his prisoner, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. He thought he had been ready to leave the hospital yesterday.

The Nine Tails had been sealed inside of him shortly after his birth by the Fourth Hokage to stop its destructive rampage through Konoha. Sealing the Fox had cost the Fourth his life. In the confusion, Naruto's parents had also died along with a large number of other people, or so he supposed. No one had ever told him who his parents were. Naruto suspected that the Third Hokage had known, but felt it was too dangerous for anyone to know. The Third had had a sad and slightly guilty look on his face the few times Naruto had asked him about it. The Fox was also the reason that Naruto had been the village pariah for most his life. He had not known the reason until he had been told by the traitor Mizuki after graduation from the Ninja Academy less than a year ago.

The Third had taken the Hokage's Fire Hat back after the Fourth had died and had run Konoha until he had died at Orochimaru's hand during the recent invasion. The Third had always treated Naruto well—he was one of the few that had—but Naruto wished he would have told him more about his heritage. Naruto had gone with Jiraiya the Toad Sage to retrieve Senju Tsunade to be the Fifth Hokage. Shortly after Tsunade's inauguration Sasuke had fled in order to get power from Orochimaru. Naruto was sure that this was mostly due to the Cursed Seal that Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke during the Chunin Exams, but Sasuke had always been obsessed with becoming stronger in order to kill his brother Itachi and avenge his clan which Itachi had murdered. Orochimaru's minions had diverted the members of the retrieval team until there was just Naruto, and he had been unable to stop Sasuke by himself. Hatake Kakashi, their sensei and team leader, had arrived too late to stop Sasuke, but had brought Naruto back to Konoha to recover. Luckily, everyone had survived, although it had been close in some cases.

Tsunade was a medic nin—the best in the Elemental Nations—and despite being the new Hokage, she viewed the hospital as her personal fiefdom. She had decreed that Naruto was not to be released except by her authority and had posted ANBU guards outside the door and window to make sure he didn't "check himself out." Tsunade's apprentice Shizune had checked him a few hours ago, and said that he was ready to be released, but that Tsunade wanted to talk to him first. And so he waited. And was bored. Most of Konoha would be sweating to hear that Naruto was bored—notorious prankster that he was. Pranking was the only way he had to get people to acknowledge him until recently. He thought he might be able to escape, but he liked Tsunade and wanted to talk to her anyway. He had not seen her more than a few seconds since before he had left to chase Sasuke.

Finally, he heard a commotion in the hall and heard Tsunade and Shizune talking in the hall. They both entered. The blonde young-seeming Hokage walking in front of her dark-haired actually-young apprentice. Tsunade was in her fifties, but used an illusion technique to appear like she was in her twenties. She was eye-catching with a generous figure and a red gem on her forehead that was actually a chakra-storage seal. Naruto had seen it in action against Orochimaru when he had gone with Jiraiya to ask her to be the next Hokage.

"Hey, Baachan. You keeping the Hat warm for me?"

Naruto was notorious for being "the Number-One Hyperactive, Unpredictable, Knuckleheaded Ninja," a loudmouth, and too-familiar with authority figures. He frequently proclaimed that he was going to be the best Hokage ever.

"Don't call me that, brat," Tsunade growled as she grabbed his head and gave him a noogie.

"You gonna let me out of here, Baachan?" he asked with a smirk.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and replied, "Shizune says you're ready to go, but before you head to Ichiraku's for ramen, I'd like you to come with me to my office. There's something that Sensei left me that I need to talk to you about." Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage had been the sensei of her genin team. Orochimaru and Jiraiya had been her teammates. Their team was known as the Densetsu no Sannin. They were named the Legendary Three Ninja for standing up to the insanely powerful Hanzou of the Salamander, the leader of Ame.

Naruto's heart stopped for a second. Was he finally going to learn about his parents?

"Sure, Baachan," her replied. "Later, Neechan," he said to Shizune with a wave.

Shizune smiled and said, "Later, Naruto-kun."

* * *

Tsunade settled into her desk and reached into a drawer for a jar of sake. She poured herself a saucer as Naruto seated himself across the desk from her. She leaned back and activated the privacy seals on the room and then leaned back and stared at the sealing.

"What's this about, Baachan?" he asked.

Tsunade sighed and then looked at Naruto. "Sensei left a scroll for his successor that gave some information about you and your family—to be told to you if he hadn't already done so and you were judged mature enough. . ."

"Please tell me, Hokage-sama," Naruto interrupted. "I've been alone my whole life and it would mean the world to me to belong to a family, even if they're all dead." He looked at her pleadingly.

Tsunade smiled at Naruto trying to be polite for once. "Despite everything, I think you can handle this, brat."

She took another drink and then continued. "Your mother's name is Uzumaki Kushina. She was originally from Uzushio, but came here when she was a kid. We're actually cousins, although I'm not sure on the exact relationship. My grandmother was Uzumaki Mito. Uzushio was destroyed by Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo in the run up to the Second Shinobi War not long after she came to Konoha which orphaned her."

She paused to look up at Naruto, who was paying more attention to her than at any time in the past. She sighed again, "According to what Sensei left, she survived the Nine-Tails attack, but suffered some kind of nervous breakdown."

Naruto's face fell. "She's alive, but she abandoned me?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Sensei said to make sure that you knew that her breakdown was related to the death of your father, and not to you."

Naruto's expression became more neutral. "Oh." Then he brightened. "Who was my father?"

Tsunade shook her head again. "Your mother is actually living here in a secluded part of Konoha. I think it best that she explain things to you. Sensei visited her about once a month and the scheduled time is this afternoon. Would you like to visit her?"

Naruto's expression flicked back and forth between anxiety and hope several times before settling on a mix of the two. "Alright," he agreed quietly.

* * *

Naruto followed Tsunade along a trail in the lightly forested plateau above the Hokage Monument. Tsunade stopped were the trail ended up against the cliffs that protected Konoha's rear. She hunted around until she found a small whirlpool symbol.

"The Uzumaki clan symbol," she said as she pointed at it.

She nicked her finger with a kunai and smeared a little bit of blood on the seal and spoke clearly, "Senju Tsunade the Fifth Hokage and Uzumaki Naruto."

They waited for a few minutes and a stairway shimmered into view. "Wait out here for us," Tsunade said to their unseen ANBU escort.

Naruto followed Tsunade up the short stairway to a patio. A large house was built into the side of the mountain. He turned around and saw a gorgeous view of Konoha. Tsunade knocked on the door. Almost immediately the door opened and a young-looking woman with straight red hair opened the door. She wore a simple cream-colored blouse with dark-green, loose-fitting pants. She gave them a haunted smile and said, "Please come in."

They followed her to a comfortable looking parlor. She waved them to a small table with cushions for kneeling. "Tea?" she asked.

They both nodded.

She left and returned a few minutes later. "I always have some tea waiting for Hiruzen-kun." She paused and looked at Tsunade. "I assume something happened to him?"

Tsunade growled out. "Sensei died fighting that jerk Orochimaru."

Kushina bowed her head and sighed. "Hiruzen-kun was a good man. I enjoyed our talks." She looked at Naruto with a sad smile. "You look just like your father."

He gathered his courage. "Are you my mother?"

She nodded sadly.

Naruto's eyes threatened to tear. "Why did you abandon me? Was it because of the Fox?"

She looked at him with guilt visible in her eyes. "In a way—but not the way you're thinking." She looked at the ceiling. "Hiruzen-kun told me that they had told everyone that the Nine Tails was sealed inside you. This was done to protect you, but it isn't true. Your seal has another purpose."

She paused again and then continued. "I suppose I ought to tell you the whole story and hope you don't hate me as much as I hate myself."

She took a sip of her tea and then began again. "The Nine Tails didn't attack Konoha of her own free will." She gave a weak smile at their start. "Yes, the Nine Tails is female. She was trapped in a powerful genjutsu by a masked man with a single visible Sharingan. His chakra was different than any Uchiha I knew and I knew many of them because I was good friends with the wife of the clan head. It was reminiscent of Uchiha Madara."

Tsunade started. "Madara was killed by my grandfather, the First Hokage."

Kushina shrugged her shoulders. "I thought so too, but there was no body after Hashirama's final attack. The masked man felt like him though, but not exactly." The room filled with a low level killing intent that rapidly rose.

Kushina recovered and the killing intent died out. Tsunade was staring at Kushina intently. "How would you know what Madara felt like? You're younger than me."

"It will become apparent as I continue. The masked man's Mangekyo-Sharingan genjutsu induced the Nine Tails to attack Konoha in a rage—thinking that someone had stolen her newborn kit. Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, gave his life to protect Konoha and break the genjutsu that had ensnared his wife."

Naruto gasped at the twin revelations that his father was his hero, the Fourth, and his mother was the destroyer of the village, the Nine Tails!

"Hiruzen-kun and Jiraiya-kun sealed your fox youkai heritage away and told everyone that Minato had sealed the Nine Tails inside you like other nations had done with the other bijuu. They thought that if others knew you were the son of the Nine Tails they wouldn't be able to protect you no matter what they did.

"The guilt from having killed my husband drove me into seclusion here. I couldn't risk the masked man or another Uchiha ensnaring me again. I couldn't bear it if he made me kill you too."

She looked at him pleadingly. "Hiruzen-kun gave me updates on you and ensured me that you were being looked after."

Naruto looked at her. "The Old Man did his best, but I was the village pariah. I was shunned and ridiculed by nearly everyone. I was lonely—very lonely. They would have done much worse without his efforts."

"Oh, Naruto. Can you forgive me? I didn't realize it was so bad. I was trying to protect you from me." She opened her arms and Naruto ran around the table to hug her.

"Hey. It was hard, but it's over now, right?" he said with a smile. "I forgive you, Kaachan."

Kushina asked Naruto, "Can I look at your seal? Hiruzen-kun described it to me, but I think it would be best if I examined it."

Naruto nodded and pulled up his shirt. He formed a ram seal with his hands and channeled his chakra. His stomach glowed and a large, complex design faded into view.

"Clever," Kushina commented. "The active part of the seal is somewhat crude, but there is a lot of ornamentation that disguises the true purpose of the seal." She pointed to a portion of the seal. "This part looks very similar to the Reaper Death Seal which is what you might expect if someone gave their life by summoning the Shinigami."

After a few minutes, Kushina looked over to Tsunade and said, "I have something to confess to you too, Tsunade-chan."

Naruto shifted to kneel next to his mother. Kushina's form shifted slightly to an older, more elegant woman with her red hair in buns and a gem similar to Tsunade's on her forehead.

"Obaasan?" Tsunade gasped.

"Yes, Tsunade-chan. I was also Uzumaki Mito. When even the famed Uzumaki longevity could not explain my survival, I arranged for Mito to 'die' and for Kushina to take her place. I wasn't expecting to take another human mate, but Minato was so very adorably stubborn." Tsunade rolled her eyes toward Naruto as if to say "So that's where he gets it."

"Does this mean that all Uzumakis were demon foxes?" asked Tsunade.

Mito faded back into her Kushina guise and shook her head. "No. I did the Uzumaki clan a favor a few generations ago and in return they gave me a human identity. You two are my only surviving human blood relatives."

Tsunade suddenly smiled. "Hey, brat. This means you can't call me 'Baachan' anymore since you're my uncle."

Naruto broke into a grin and said, "Oh, the embarrassment to have an old hag as a niece."

Tsunade lightly, for her, flicked his forehead knocking him into a wall and said, "This is what I really look like, brat. The genjutsu is a fake to make people think I'm disguising my age."

Naruto rubbed his forehead as he got up. "Huh?"

"I stopped aging when I was twenty-three. By the time I was thirty people started commenting about it and so I started to use a genjutsu to make people think I was disguising my aging. I thought it was because the Senju and Uzumaki both were known for their longevity, but didn't want to draw attention to it. The clamoring for me to marry and have kids was bad enough without drawing attention to the fact that I have a longevity bloodline."

Naruto turned to his mother. "Does that mean Tsunade has a seal like mine? To hide her fox youkai heritage?"

"Not like yours," she replied. "I put seals on Tsunade, her father, and brother when they were infants. They are usually invisible and are much more efficient than the one that Jiraiya came up with for you. Tsunade's fox youkai heritage is currently limited to increased longevity, increased chakra, and increased physical abilities like strength and stamina. I could release your seal if you'd like, Tsunade."

She shook her head. "Not right now. I'm much to busy being Hokage to learn how to handle new powers. Turning into a fox youkai would totally freak out the village. I will take you up on that after I retire, I think."

Naruto stood up and yelled, "I will totally take the Hat from you, Niece, so that you can be a fox!"

Tsunade grabbed Naruto and gave him another noogie.

Kushina smiled at them and cleared her throat. "I was actually waiting quite anxiously for Hiruzen-kun's next visit because after thirteen years of research, I think I have figured out a special seal that will automatically break a Mangekyo-Sharingan genjutsu. It isn't perfect in that it still allows the genjutsu to take hold, but it limits the duration to a minute at most."

"That's great, Kaachan!" Naruto exclaimed. "Does that mean that you'll come live with me?"

She nodded and they hugged again.

A horrified look appeared on Naruto's face. "Does this mean that I really am a demon?"

Kushina shook her head. "No, we aren't demons. At least not in the real meaning of the word. Youkai aren't evil, per se—not any more than a given human, anyway. The bijuu are a unique type of youkai that are chakra constructs given a personifying characteristic. I am the personification of 'cunning,' which is why I am the most powerful of the nine bijuu. Although to be honest it's hard to tell with some of us. The One-Tailed Tanuki is the personification of 'madness,' for example. You aren't a bijuu since you were born the normal way, but you could be considered a youkai."

Relief filled Naruto's face for a moment. He frowned and said, "But whenever I've manifested the red chakra I'm always filled with rage and bloodlust."

"With the seal you have on you, most of your youkai heritage is only manifested by great emotions," his mother replied. "With your age and the shinobi lifestyle it isn't too surprising that rage is what has triggered it so far."

The conversation lulled for a bit and then Tsunade spoke up, "Jiraiya had asked me if he could take you on a three-year training trip, Naruto, to help better control the youkai chakra and to hide you from Akatsuki. How would you like to go with your mom instead?"

Naruto looked pleadingly at his mom. She smiled and nodded. "That sounds wonderful. I have been cooped up in this house for a long time. I need to get out and stretch my tails."

She winked at Naruto and nine fox tails fanned out behind her and fox ears poked out from her hair. "I should also remove your seal and either train you in your youkai powers or give you seal more like what Tsunade has."

Naruto jumped up and down. "Great! Training from you will be way better than from Ero-Sennin. Hey, if you're the Nine Tails and you release my fox youkai heritage, how many tails will I have?"

"Four or five to start with depending on your human chakra reserves," she replied. "if you're similar to Tsunade-chan's father. I'm guessing that Tsunade-chan would still start with two or three even though her father never manifested his."

Naruto stuck out his tongue at Tsunade. The two women chuckled at his antics.

After a companionable silence, Tsunade said to Kushina, "I think it's best if you don't follow us out of here, Obaasan. I would rather not have the ANBU squad that escorted us here know you've been here all along. Can you sneak out and come in through Konoha's front gate?"

Kushina smirked and rolled her eyes. "Please. I am the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Tsunade snorted. "Konoha doesn't currently believe the Nine Tails knows subtle."

Kushina's smirk faded and guilt clouded her eyes.

Tsunade continued, "Simply tell the gate guards that you'd heard I'd returned to Konoha and wanted to see your cousin again." She paused. "How is new you related to old you again?"

"I'm my own great niece—which makes us second cousins," Kushina answered with a smile.

"Great. We'll see you tomorrow then."

Naruto bounced up and gave her a big hug "I'm so glad to finally meet you, Kaachan," he said.

"Me too, Kit. Me too."

Kushina turned to Tsunade and morphed into Mito with a twinkle in her eye. She kissed her granddaughter's chakra gem on her forehead and said, "I'm glad to see you too, Tsunade-chan. I wish I could have done more for you. Your father thought that unlocking his heritage would interfere with his relationship with your mother and thought that you should have a full human life before deciding. After Dan-san died, you left so quickly and then the masked man. . ." she trailed off.

Tsunade squeezed her grandmother and sighed. "Life has had its ups and downs. More downs than ups, I think sometimes." She brightened, "It is wonderful to not be alone though. Shizune-chan is like the niece she would have been if Dan hadn't died and I'd grown fond of the brat even before I realized we were blood related." She ruffled Naruto's hair. "But I've been the last Senju for so long. Even if you two aren't too aren't technically Senjus, you are family. That's important to me."

Tsunade and Naruto both left the hidden house much happier than they had entered it.


	3. Secret of the Fox Chapter 2

Naruto was practically bouncing off the walls of his apartment eagerly awaiting the summons to the Hokage Tower. Despite not sleeping much due to the excitement, he was feeling especially hyperactive. He thought about going to Ichiraku's or looking for Sakura or one of his other friends, but he did not think he could keep his excitement to himself. He would give away that he knew something was happening for sure. He could not wait to introduce his mother to his friends. He snickered at the thought of introducing the Nine Tails to them. Shikamaru would think it was "troublesome" for sure.

Finally, an ANBU knocked on the door. "Hokage-sama wants to see you immediately, Uzumaki-san," the masked ninja said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

He wanted to run, but he contented himself with walking briskly. As he finally made it to the Tower, he noticed that some of the older shinobi were giving him speculative looks. They must have recognized his mother and figured they must be related due to their names and his being summoned upon her arrival. The Third had told him he had been given the surname "Uzumaki" to honor the First's wife Uzumaki Mito, which was ironic once he thought about it.

When he entered the Hokage's office, she gave a signal dismissing the hidden ANBU and then activated the privacy seals.

"Kaachan!" Naruto ran to his mother and gave her a hug. He could get used to this. She looked several years older than when he'd seen her yesterday. She was wearing a typical shinobi outfit and a Leaf Badge. The Uzumaki Whirlpool symbol was prominent on her belt buckle where it looked like a second ninja badge.

Tsunade cleared her throat and said, "We've been discussing whether we should go forward with announcing your mother's marriage to the Fourth to the village or not."

His mother said, "I understand why Hiruzen kept it a secret, but with me here the security concerns are mostly moot. While I'm here no one will touch you, and by the time we get back from our training trip you should be more than good enough to handle yourself on missions without me."

Naruto found that thinking out loud helped him reason things out, so he said, "I don't know, Kaachan. I'd like people to accept me for me and not who my Touchan was. But I certainly wouldn't stop you from letting everyone know what an awesome husband you'd snagged." He smirked.

Tsunade snorted. "You've been blamed for something that wasn't your fault for years, brat. Might as well get something good out of the deal, too. Maybe the karma will balance itself out."

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Okay, let's do it!"

The Hokage said, "I'll call a meeting of the clan heads, the counselors, and the jounin of the village tomorrow afternoon. I'll also invite the heads of the Merchant and Craftsmen Guilds. It will filter out from there." She turned to Naruto. "The story we've come up with is that someone told your mother that you'd died along with your father and that she'd left Konoha to deal with her grief. She came to see me when she'd heard that I'd returned since we're cousins and the I'm the only family she has since the destruction of Uzushio. I told her you were still alive and called you here to meet her."

Naruto gave her a thumbs-up and said, "Sounds good!"

"You have a choice then," said the Fifth. "You can keep Uzumaki or change to Namikaze."

Naruto looked to him mother. "I've used the name Uzumaki ever since they adopted me all those years ago—except for the years I was married to Hashirama. Minato was the only Namikaze. He was an orphan after his mother died when he was ten and he didn't have any relatives afterward that he knew of. Ironically, after he became Hokage and got access to the Second and Third's documents we found out that his mother was an Uzumaki—a distant cousin of my adoptive family. Minato's father was my brother-in-law Tobirama-kun who died not long after Minato was concieved. It was very weird to find out that I had married my nephew-by-marriage without knowing it. Hiruzen-kun convinced Minato's mother that Tobirama-kun's enemies would kill Minato if she claimed him as Minato's father and that she should lay low. At the time Hiruzen felt that the Uzumaki name was too prominent, so she chose Namikaze. So we actually have three choices: Uzumaki, Senju, or Namikaze. We also have the choice as to reveal Minato's heritage or not."

Tsunade was in shock. "I thought I was the last Senju!"

"This means I'm related to you two ways, Baachan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"To be honest," Kushina said, "Senju is my last choice of the three. Not that I don't like the name—I used it for decades as Mito. I just don't think we need to spread Minato's heritage. I don't mind if it comes out to your friends, Naruto, but it doesn't really serve any real purpose and Minato decided not to when we first found out. I had been planning to take the Namikaze name after Naruto was born. In a way, I'm disappointed that I never did. However, with his mother never marrying, Minato's name would have been Uzumaki without Hiruzen's interference. If Naruto agrees, we'll keep our legal names Uzumaki, but answer to Namikaze if addressed that way."

"Sounds good to me, Kaachan!" he said enthusiastically.

Both women nodded and Tsunade said, "Sensei had the keys to Minato-kun's old house with the scroll talking about you, Naruto. It'd be more comfortable than that apartment you live in." She turned to Kushina. "Trust me. You don't want to live there."

Naruto sighed. "It's true. The place is a dump."

"I helped him pick the place after we'd become secretly engaged, but before he was chosen to be Hokage. It will seem empty without him, but it will be good to make new memories there."

Naruto brightened. "Kaachan, do you want to go to Ichiraku's for ramen?"

"That sounds wonderful, Naruto. Hiruzen-kun would bring me some sometimes, but I've missed it terribly."

Naruto added enthusiastically. "And you can meet my team and other friends."

"Who is on your team?"

"The sensei is Hatake Kakashi-san and my teammates are Haruno Sakura-chan and Uchiha Sasuke." He scowled at the last name.

Kushina frowned at his reaction. "Kakashi-chan, I know. He was one of Minato's students. I don't know the Harunos, but I'd hoped you and Sasuke-chan would be friends. His mother, Mikoto-chan and I were great friends after we served on the same genin team."

"Sasuke has been a brooding jerk after his brother Itachi killed everyone else in his clan. I thought we were starting to get along. We understood each other—both of us being orphans, you know? But then that jerk Orochimaru gave him his cursed seal hicky and he ran away. I tried to stop him, but he shoved Kakashi-sensei's Thousand Birds Technique through my stomach."

Kushina grimaced. "Itachi-chan killed his whole clan, including his mother?"

Tsunade and Naruto both nodded.

Kushina bared her enlarged canines and said with a growl, "I'm going to have to have an extensive talk with that boy about the folly of matricide."

Naruto shivered a little, remembering who his mother really was. Not that Itachi did not deserve it. Naruto did not have fond memories of his encounter with Itachi and Kisame.

Kushina settled down. "My other teammate was Hyuuga Himawari-chan. Do you know of her?"

Naruto shook his head. "The only Hyuuga I know are Hinata-chan and Neji, who are both about my age."

Kushina perked up. "Hinata was going to be Himawari-chan's daughter's name. Himawari-chan married the head of the Hyuuga Clan."

"That must be her. I'm pretty sure that Hinata-chan is the Hyuuga Heiress. I think her mom is dead though. Hinata-chan's nice, if very quiet and a bit odd. She seems to be sickly because she's often flushed whenever I talk to her."

Tsunade added, "Hyuuga Hiashi-san is widowed. I think he has two daughters though."

Naruto said, "I don't think Hinata-chan has a very good home life from what I saw during the Chunin Exams. Her jerk of her cousin tried to kill her and I've heard some disturbing complaints about her family from one of her teammates." Inuzuka Kiba was very disturbed by the Hyuuga Clan. To the Inuzuka betraying one of your own, like he felt Hinata's family had done to her, was vile.

Kushina sighed. "One disadvantage of living as long as I have is that it seems like friends are gone way too quickly. Way too quickly with these friends. I've tried being a hermit, but it just doesn't suit me. At least not for very long. Better to have friends for a little bit, rather than not at all. We'll have to go and see Hinata-chan. I'd like to do well by my old teammate's daughters and if she is Himawari-chan's oldest, I was asked to be her godmother, even if she wasn't due until a couple of months after you."

As Naruto and his mother were about to leave he called out, "Later, Baachan."

The Hokage scowled at him. "You can't call me that anymore, brat. First, because I'm your niece and second, because you know I really don't look like a grandmother."

"I can't really call you 'Niece' in public, now can I?"

"If you must, you can call me 'Obasan,'" she replied with a put-upon look.

* * *

As they walked out of the Hokage Tower, Naruto asked, "Ichiraku's?"

"That would be great," his mother replied.

Naruto could almost see the curiosity in the eyes of those they passed. The older shinobi obviously recognized her. Some of them waved to her, but she pointedly ignored them. He could see connections being made in some of their eyes. Some even flinched.

Kushina chuckled. "I had a bit of a reputation as having a temper. They used to call me the 'Hot-Blooded Habanero.' Kumo feared me almost as much as Iwa feared your father. They actually kidnapped me when I was about your age. I could sense your father following us, so I decided to see if he could rescue me and left stands of my hair for him to follow. Even as barely more than a boy he was _interesting_ even though I pretended not to like him up till then. He handled it fairly easily. During the war I made it my mission to destroy them for their part in the destruction of Uzushio—at least as much as I could without giving away what I am."

He gave a weak chuckle. "Uh, Kaachan. You won't do anything drastic, will you?"

She gave a particularly vicious smile, but then sighed. "For the most part, no—not unless I hear of something specific that warrants it. I _do_ reserve the right to put the fear of the gods in them though."

Naruto laughed. "That's fine. I do love a good prank."

She smiled back at him. "Where do you think you got it from? Minato was much too nice for his own good."

When they got to Ichiraku's Ramen Naruto called out, "Hey, Old Man! Five bowls of miso please!"

Kushina called out, "Five bowls of chicken please, Old Man!"

A man in his forties turned his head towards the entrance. "Hey Naruto-kun. . . and Kushina-kun? Where've you been? And what's with the 'Old Man?' I'm not that much older than you."

Kushina frowned. "Some jerk, who should be glad he's already dead, told me Naruto had died in the Nine-Tails attack. I left in order to deal with the grief." Then she smiled as she continued, "As for the 'Old Man,' it's tradition that the proprietor of Ichiraku's is called 'Old Man.' It's what I called your dad, after all."

Ichiraku Teuchi smiled and gestured his acceptance, but then leaned forward and in a stage whisper said, "I think Ayame-chan will be doing her best to discourage that tradition when she takes over in another decade or so." He continued in a normal voice. "Why didn't the Third send anyone after you?" He didn't seem to surprised at the implied relationship between the two Uzumakis.

"When I want to hide, not even Jiraiya-san can find me. I only came back because I had heard that Tsunade-chan had been made Hokage. I figured I should come and greet my last known relative. And luckily I found that my son had survived after all." She ruffled Naruto's hair.

"That's right. The First's wife was an Uzumaki, too."

"Hey, Old Man. Why aren't you surprised that she's my mom?" Naruto asked.

"Anyone with eyes and a brain can tell that you look like your father and act like your mother. It's just your bad luck that the village is full of idiots. The Third wasn't exactly subtle when he had you take your mom's family name." He saw Naruto's disappointment. "Far be it for a simple ramen chef to second guess the Third Hokage. He obviously didn't want it spread around. I'm sorry, Naruto. I would have liked to tell you about your parents. They were frequent customers of mine."

Like quicksilver Naruto's mood improved. "Don't worry about it, Old Man. And no one who makes ramen like you is simple!"

A brown-haired young woman exited the kitchen with a tray stacked with ramen bowls. "Good to see you, Naruto-kun. Welcome back, Kushina-san."

"You too, Ayame-neechan." Naruto replied.

"You've grown up nicely, Ayame-chan." Kushina said with a smile.

The Ichirakus retreated back to their station and the Uzumakis began to rapidly eat their ramen.

"They're definitely related. Look at the way she eats ramen," a female voice called out before they had eaten their fourth bowls.

Naruto looked up at Yamanaka Ino's voice. The blonde kunoichi had entered the restaurant with her friend and rival the pink-haired Haruno Sakura.

"Hi Ino-chan, Sakura-chan. This is my mom, Uzumaki Kushina. Kaachan, this is my teammate Haruno Sakura-chan and her friend Yamanaka Ino-chan."

Ino looked excited, probably at being at ground zero of the latest gossip, but Sakura had a small frown marring her face. "Are you sure, Naruto? There is a group of S-rank criminals after you. It wouldn't be hard for them to get someone to pretend to be your long-lost mother." She was referring to Akatsuki, the organization that Uchiha Itachi belonged to. According to Jiraiya they were trying to harvest the Tailed Beasts.

Naruto nodded. "Baachan vouched for her. Did you know that we're related? The Hokage is my cousin!"

"Ah," she responded, "so you really are an Uzumaki?" Sakura was very book smart. She knew all sorts of obscure facts. It wasn't a surprise that she would know about the First's wife.

At Naruto's second nod, Sakura looked at Kushina and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but Naruto-kun's so starved for attention and forgiving that he would latch onto anyone whether they deserved it or not. Where have you been? Naruto-kun has thought he was an orphan for thirteen years!"

"I'm glad that my son has people willing to look out for him. I was told in the aftermath of the Nine Tails attack that Naruto had died. I left in my grief and only came back because I'd heard that my only surviving relative had returned from her self-imposed exile. I was happy to see that Naruto wasn't really dead."

Sakura nodded. Naruto thought that she still had reservations, but was willing to let it go for now. She said, "Your son is a strong, if unconventional, shinobi, Uzumaki-san. Come on, Ino-pig. Let's let them get acquainted." She pulled Ino out of the restaurant. The blonde looked like she wanted to stay and gather more gossip, but allowed herself to be guided out.

"I'm getting tired of that explanation already," Kushina said. "I'll be glad that after tomorrow I won't have to give it as much. So that's your remaining teammate? It seems like she's concerned about you."

Naruto sighed. "We have a wild relationship. I annoy her by saying something stupid and she hits me. I've fancied her for a while, but she's only had eyes for Sasuke. I mostly just ask her out nowadays from habit. Still, we have been through a lot together. It's nice to know she worries about me—at least as a friend. She yelled at me while I was in the hospital for failing to bring Sasuke back."

After they finished their ramen and paid for it Naruto asked his mother, "What else do you want to do?"

"Well, first let's show you the house and make sure everything is in order there. Then we're going shopping. I don't know what Hiruzen-kun was thinking letting you wander around in that orange monstrosity."

Naruto frowned. "I like orange."

"Orange is best in smaller amounts and in very small amounts, if at all, on a shinobi outfit."

"Fine. I got it at first because it's one of the few outfits the shopkeepers would sell me, but after a while I liked it because it got me attention and made me unique."

"Trust me," his mother growled. "They'll sell you something decent if they know what's good for them. After shopping, I thought that we could go see the Hyuugas. I owe it to Himawari-chan to check up on her daughters."

* * *

The Namikaze house had a tall fence around it. A seal covered the gate.

"I used a stasis seal on the house and grounds before retreating to my lair up by the monument," Kushina explained. "It should have kept everything in order. We should only have to deal with the normal mess." She placed a palm on the seal and channeled a small amount of chakra into it which caused the gates to swing open. "Before we leave again I'll make sure you're keyed to the seal."

The house was large, but not as big as the Sarutobi mansion was—much less some of the clan compounds. Not that Naruto had a lot of experience with mansions. He'd only been to the Third's house a few times that he remembered. The grounds were cheery. His mother placed her hand on a smaller seal to the side of the door and the front door swung open.

"What were the keys for?" he asked.

She laughed. "I'm not sure. We never used them past the first week after Minato moved in."

The interior of the house was also cheery with pictures of his parents and others on the walls. Naruto recognized Jiraiya and Kakashi. A few others looked familiar, like he knew their relatives. The rooms looked "lived in" but were only slightly messy.

Kushina was subdued. "I haven't been inside since we left for the hospital. There are so many memories here—mostly good, but painful all the same because I can't make new ones with your father."

The normally-loud blond was at a loss on what to do, so he took her hand and patted it.

His mother gave him a fond look and said, "I meant what I said yesterday, Kit. I've tried being a hermit before, and the last thirteen years notwithstanding, it doesn't suit me. I'm glad I had what time I had with your father. We'll make new memories together, okay?"

* * *

The storekeeper at the shinobi supply store had been old enough to recognize Kushina and a glare was all that was needed to keep him in line. Naruto had bought black and navy jackets and navy pants with burnt orange stripes down the legs as well as some kunai and shuriken. He was wearing one of the outfits out of the store and had the rest in a couple of bags.

Kushina looked over her shoulder and Naruto thought he saw her nose twitch. She turned to him and said, "Why don't you take your things home? I've seen someone I'd like to talk to. If you want, you can also grab what you want to keep from your old apartment."

"Who is it, Mom?"

"Some one I'd like to talk to in private. I may tell you about it later," she responded.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I've always thought that Himawari sounded like a Hyuuga name. In my personal head canon Hinata named her daughter after her mother, hence my using that as her name here.

I had originally written Kushina as Hinata's godmother, but then remembered that Hinata was 2.5 months younger than Naruto. I rewrote it to show that, but it's a little bit of a stretch. If I hadn't, it would've meant dropping one of the few plot points I had figured out. There's a small amount of additional justification in the next chapter, but still...


	4. Secret of the Fox Chapter 3

Naruto puttered around the house exploring the rooms in a little more depth than what he'd done earlier with his mom. He found what was obviously his parents' room. There was a sealed doorway that looked like it might open to stairs to the basement. The room that really made him stop and almost break into tears was the nursery that was ready and waiting for a new baby. He claimed one of the furnished, but otherwise empty bedrooms and started putting away his new things and the few personal things he'd picked up from his apartment.

His mother showed up after about half an hour. "Did you find who were looking for?" he asked her.

His mother gave him an amused smile. "Did you know that you have an admirer?"

"Really? Who is it?" He was almost bouncing with excitement.

Her smile broadened. "You mean you really don't know?"

"Ah, Kaachan. You gotta tell me."

Her eyes twinkled. "How about you guess?"

He pouted briefly and then started thinking out loud. "Well, I have gotten a birthday present left at my door for the last few years. I always thought Old Man Hokage or Old Man Ichiraku had done it, but both of them and Ayame have always denied it. The only other person who was nice to me was Iruka-sensei. Konohamaru kind of admires me, but I don't think he left the presents." He looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm kind of friends to some degree or another with most of the other rookies now and there's Auntie Hokage, Shizune, and the Pervy Sage, but I don't think you're talking about any of them."

"Can you be more specific about the other rookies?"

"In the Academy, I got along alright with Shikamaru and Choji. Shino always kept to himself. Kiba often teased me, but sometimes I could get him to help with a prank. Sasuke-the-jerk always called me names or looked down his nose at me. Ino and Sakura," he paused to sigh, "were actually pretty mean now that I think about it. Hinata," he paused again, "was always quiet and shy. I saw her looking at me at odd moments, but she would look away quickly whenever I caught her. She always stuttered and was flushed whenever I talked to her. At first, I thought she didn't like me, but she would defend me at odd moments. I finally just decided she was sick all the time. She was also the only girl in our class that didn't chase after the Jerk. I haven't seen any of them a whole lot since graduation except for Sasuke and Sakura. I developed what I thought was a friendly rivalry with Sasuke, but the Snake's Cursed Seal seems to have undone that. Sakura and I get along better now, for the most part, unless I ask her out. I think she sees me as a frequently-annoying little brother, now that I think about it."

Kushina tapped her chin a few times with a finger and then said, "Hinata often watches you because she admires you."

"She does? Why does she never talk to me then?" Naruto asked. "How do you know?"

"I know because I saw her watching us as we left the shop. I went and talked to her. I told you I'm her godmother, right?" She paused and then continued, "Hinata is very shy. Her home life has convinced her that she's a failure. She admires you because she sees that you never give up no matter how many times you fail. She sees herself as a failure and so she tries to draw inspiration from you."

"What? Hinata's not a failure. She was doing pretty good against her jerk of a cousin and he's supposed to be a prodigy."

His mother frowned. "The Hyuuga Clan is very proud. The fact that Hinata is the heiress means that to many of her clan she should be the best and any signs that she's not would cause her to be condemned. I'm afraid that Hinata is also the victim of clan politics. I know her mother wasn't popular with many of the clan's elders due to policies that she espoused and, from our little talk, Hinata is quite a bit like her mother."

Kushina paused. "I've invited Hinata to meet us here in a little bit and then the three of us are going to talk to her father. I don't appreciate the way he's treated my goddaughter and so I'm going to chastise him. I want you to come with us because some of it will involve Uzumaki Clan business that you need to know about. Since I will be teaching you Uzumaki Clan techniques, clan law requires me to teach you about 'Mito's Folly.'"

"'Mito's Folly?' Was that you?"

"Yes. Are you familiar with the Caged Bird Seal?"

"Not really. Neji talked about it some during the Chunin Exams and I saw it on his forehead, but I don't know what it does."

"When I was Mito, the Hyuuga Clan Leader asked me to develop a seal to protect their eyes. The Hyuuga Clan has a bloodline called the Byakugan. Are you familiar with it?"

He nodded. "Yes, that's what allows Hinata to see chakra so that she can do her awesome Gentle Fist moves."

"Yes, it also allows them to see everything around them even at great distances and behind them. The eyes can actually be transplanted and the Byakugan stolen that way. They Hyuuga Clan would do almost anything to prevent that. The Clan Leader told me that if we provided a seal that kept their eyes from being stolen, the Hyuuga would join the Senju and the Uchiha in Konoha. I didn't see the harm and so I provided a seal that would destroy their eyes upon death. I didn't see the need to put any safeguards on the seal, so I made it easy to understand. To my shame the Hyuuga altered the seal so that it could be activated to cause severe pain or even death. They only gave it to part of the clan. The leaders of the clan and their families were exempt from the seal. What was worse was that those with the seal—they call them the 'Branch Family'—are treated as little more than slaves by some of the 'Main Family' who use the seal to discipline or even outright bully members of the Branch Family. I didn't find out about the alterations to the seal until a decade had passed. When I found out I was furious and demanded that they stop the practice. They claimed it was 'clan business' and that neither the Hokage nor his wife could interfere. When I told my adopted family about it, they were very disappointed in me and I was actually banished from Uzushio for ten years and 'Mito's Folly' was required learning for any Uzumaki sealers."

"Wow, Kaachan. That's horrible. I can see why Neji was upset. He's still a jerk for taking it out on Hinata, though. She said that she wants to get rid of the seal."

Kushina let out a bitter chuckle. "When I attended the academy as Kushina years later Himawari kept trying to befriend me, but I ignored her or snapped at her. It wasn't until we were put on the same genin team and I found out that she wanted me to help her remove the seal that we became friends. It's ironic that my two best friends, other than your father, were Hyuuga and Uchiha—members of the two clans that have caused me the most grief since I came to Konoha.

"I would like to invite Hinata on our training trip to help get her out of the horrible situation she's in at her home. Would you mind?" She looked at him seriously. "If she came it would be inevitable that she would learn a lot of your secrets. Do you think she's trustworthy?"

Naruto looked troubled. "She _has_ always been nice to me, despite the fact that her Hyuuga bodyguards often weren't. But I don't think I could stand it if she started to hate me because of what I am."

His mother pulled him into a hug. "There isn't a guarantee, but I think it will be alright. Her mother was one of the few that knew I was a fox youkai, and we were still friends. My attack on the village changed the way the village views foxes, but she's too young to have any personal fear of foxes."

He gathered his courage and said quietly, "Okay, Kaachan. We can ask her to come. Even if she hates me, it's better than she gets away from her family."

She hugged him again. "Oh, Naruto. Sometimes you remind me so much of your father."

* * *

Twenty minutes later they heard a chime and Hinata's timid voice stutter, "U-Uzum-maki-s-sama, I-I came l-like you ask-sked."

Kushina led Naruto to the front room and indicated a small seal by the door, "You can activate the intercom seal here so that they can hear you at the front gate. There's also one at the top of the stairs and in the master bedroom."

She put a small amount of chakra into the seal and said, "Hello, Hinata. I'll be right out in a moment."

"Have a seat, son. I'll be right back."

Naruto sat and waited until his mother returned with Hinata. She was wearing her normal lavender outfit that complimented her hair and pale-lavender pupil-less eyes. He stood and greeted her. "Hi, Hinata! It's great to see you. I'm glad you've recovered from the Chunin Exams."

Hinata looked at her feet. "H-Hello, N-Narut-to. I m-met your m-mother in the sh-shop-pping d-district and sh-she invited m-me h-here." She looked up and said wistfully, "I bet you're really glad to have her back."

"It's been great!" he replied animatedly.

Kushina asked, "Would you like some tea, Hinata?"

"Y-Yes, pl-please."

Naruto and Hinata kneeled at the small table while Kushina went to get the tea she had started not long ago.

Kushina returned and poured the tea. The three of them sipped it silently for a few minutes before Kushina spoke up. "Hinata, I will be taking Naruto on a training trip in a few days that I expect to last several years."

Hinata looked disappointed. "S-Several y-years?" she stuttered.

"As your godmother, I think it would be a good idea if you came with us. What do you think?"

"G-Go with N-Narut-to?" she squeaked and blushed a deep red.

Kushina smiled encouragingly and Naruto gave her a thumbs-up.

Hinata nodded enthusiastically and then gave an "Eep!" and covered her face as she realized how excited she was acting.

"Very good," Kushina said. "When you two are done here, you can give Hinata a small tour of the house, Son. I'm going to go get ready to talk to your father, Hinata."

After a few minutes, Hinata said shyly, "I'm ready for the tour, N-Naruto."

They stood and walked into the living room. Hinata stopped to look at the pictures. Her eyes were naturally drawn to the picture of the pregnant Kushina standing next to the Fourth Hokage.

"My father," Naruto said quietly. "Tsunade-bachan is going to release it to the clans, jonin, and guilds tomorrow, so please don't tell anyone until then. She's mom's second cousin. I'm not sure what that makes us, but she said I could call her obasan." He laughed. "I think she's just glad to have me not call her 'baachan' anymore."

"Th-that would make her y-your second c-cousin once removed, N-Narut-to," Hinata said shyly.

"Thanks, Hinata," he said. He chuckled. "It's not every day you go from being a family-less nobody to having all sorts of famous relatives. It's kind of funny that the only Hokage I'm not actually related to in someway is the one I grew up calling 'Jiijii.'"

"You've always been someone to me, N-Naruto," she said looking at her feet.

"Thanks again, Hinata."

Kushina walked up to them. She was dressed in her full shinobi gear, including a sword strapped to her waist on the left side.

"Wow, Mom," Naruto said, looking over his mother. "You look like you're dressed for war."

"Better to be prepared and not need it, Naruto," she replied.

* * *

The closer they got to the Hyuuga compound the more withdrawn Hinata became and the more furious Kushina became. Naruto thought he could almost see her hair moving on its own.

Two pupil-less Hyuuga with their Leaf Badges covering their foreheads stood at the compounds' open gate.

"Tell Hiashi that his daughter's godmother is here to see him," Kushina growled.

The older guard obviously recognized her and briefly went inside to send a runner. Naruto faintly hear him tell someone, "Tell Hyuuga-sama that Kushina-sama is hear with Hinata-sama and Uzumaki Naruto and wishes to see him." The other guard scowled at the lack of respect.

The younger guard cleared his throat and said, "Hinata-sama. . ."

"My godmother is making a formal visit, Ryu," she interrupted quietly. "I will wait with her." When the other guard reappeared she said, "Thank you, Daisuke."

Ten minutes later a boy came to the gate and said, "Hyuuga-sama has asked me to conduct Kushina-sama to his office."

Kushina started to walk through the gate still visibly fuming. The guard Hinata had called Ryu began, "The brat. . ."

"My _son_ is coming with me," Kushina snapped with her hand on her sword hilt. The older guard, Daisuke, shook his head at the younger one, who stepped back.

As they walked through the compound, Naruto noticed that his mother was collecting very harsh glares from three old men. She sneered at them when she saw them.

"Some of the Clan Elders," Hinata said very quietly.

The boy led them into a large, elegant building across the courtyard from the gates. The building had a large foyer. The boy gestured at a fancy door at the end of the foyer. Hinata's father was standing inside the door. He closed the door after the three entered. Kushina slapped her palm onto the door and channeled some chakra into it. When she removed her hand, a seal with the kanji for "blind" and "deaf" at the center was displayed on the door. "Privacy seal," she growled.

"My guards are going to think you are planning to murder me, Kushina-kun," Hiashi said.

Hyuuga Hiashi was dressed formally with a white tunic under an olive-green haori. He had the standard Hyuuga dark hair and white eyes. He had a stiff posture and serious demeanor.

"Is there any reason I shouldn't, Hiashi?" she growled.

Naruto looked over to Hinata who was wearing a worried expression.

The Hyuuga Clan Head sighed. "No, I don't think there is." He looked at his daughter and said, "I assume you are here to tell me what an awful father I have been and how Himawari would be terribly disappointed in me?"

Naruto's mother gave a sharp nod.

Hiashi looked upward for a few seconds before glancing at the two young teens. "Should we be discussing this with the children here?" he asked.

"My son needs to hear about 'Mito's Folly' and its effects. It's a clan requirement. As for your daughter, I think she deserves to know what's going on. She _is_ your heir, isn't she?"

Hiashi looked at Naruto. "I thought so. He looks just like Minato-kun and acts like you did when you were younger. I would have like to have helped him, but bringing anyone named Uzumaki to stay here is impossible—as was any public support."

Kushina nodded in acknowledgment.

Hiashi continued, "Very well. To explain, a clan head with a belligerent clan council has very little real power. Especially not with the tools the Hyuuga Council has at its disposal. I was told to be 'firm' with Hinata and that any 'failures' were not to be excused or tolerated. If I didn't do what was expected of me then it was strongly implied that weakness was prevalent in the head family and we would be replaced and given the Caged Bird Seal. If I interfered with the Main Family's prerogative of 'disciplining' the Branch Family, my brother's legacy would suffer." He turned to his daughter. "I am deeply sorry, Hinata, for my failure as a father. I did not see any way forward, so I played their game and stalled for time. I hoped something would come up that would save you, but I was determined that at least one of my daughters would be spared Hizashi's fate and the chances of saving Hanabi were much greater." He bowed his head in shame.

"Against any one or two of the Main Family," he continued. "I could defeat them handily, but I could not stand against them all. I talked to the Third when the troubles began. He sympathized greatly, but he told me the Uchiha would revolt if he interfered in any clan's inner workings. After the Uchiha Massacre I asked again, but he told me it was still too risky. Even the sympathetic clans would likely oppose interfering. The Third, despite his virtues, always chose the least risky path if Konoha's survival was threatened, even if it hurt his friends."

"What about your father? Isn't he still around?" asked Kushina who was finally starting to relax.

Hiashi sighed. "My father is not an evil man, but he is steeped in tradition and he fears the Branch would revolt if we freed them. While he does not make things worse, he will not help me or defend my daughter."

"Give her to me," Kushina said. "Let me have Hinata-chan."

"What? The Elders will never let her leave the Clan unmarked."

Kushina shook her head. "I'm taking my son on a three-year training journey starting the day after tomorrow. Hinata-chan has said that she'd like to come too. Your clan can hardly complain publicly that I'm training my goddaughter, especially if they don't know until after we leave. She is my goddaughter, isn't she?"

Hiashi said, "Yes. Himawari insisted on it—even after you disappeared. She seemed to think you would appear sooner or later." He looked at his daughter who nodded shyly.

"Very well," Hiashi agreed. "Please don't talk about it beforehand in public though. I can see them trying to seal her before you leave if they know."

"Tell your _Elders_ that if my goddaughter or her sister are branded with that Slave Mark I will separate every unmarked Hyuuga head over sixteen from its neck," Kushina snarled.

"Even me, Kushina-kun?" he asked sadly.

"I would never expect you to survive your daughter's decent into slavery, Hiashi-kun," she said quietly.

Hiashi nodded.

"Also, tell the Chief Slaver that Himawari's Compromise is still in effect."

She turned to Hinata. "We will be leaving from our house at 6 o'clock in the morning the day after tomorrow. You can come over anytime before then, even later tonight if you feel like you need to." She handed Hinata a scroll. "This scroll has six seals on it. Any one of them would probably hold what you would want to take, but this allows you to sort and compartmentalize your things. You know how to use one of these, right?"

"Yes. Thank you," said Hinata.

Kushina turned back to Hiashi. "I'm glad my worst fears weren't realized and you weren't responsible. Don't worry about Hinata-chan. We'll figure out a way to free her before we come back."

"Thanks, Kushina-kun. Where have you been, anyway? I wouldn't expect you to leave without at least taking your son."

"They told me he had died. I couldn't stand staying without him or Minato. I only came back to visit my cousin. I was pleasantly surprised to find Naruto was still alive, but greatly displeased at his treatment. Tsunade is going to present me to the village leaders tomorrow evening and tell them about my marriage to Minato and that Naruto is our son."

"Will you be taking the Namikaze name?" Hiashi asked curiosly.

"Not formally. Only Minato and his mother ever used the name. While I loved my husband, both of us were the last of our name and my name is the one that has heritage behind it to preserve."

The four of them made their bows and Naruto followed Kushina out of the compound.

"What's Himawari's Compromise, Kaachan?" Naruto asked after they had gone a few blocks.

"The Hyuuga in general have mostly tried to avoid us Uzumakis because they don't want to admit they're afraid of us. After I was placed on Himawari's team and we began to interact more. I got into a shouting match with the Hyuuga Clan Sealer when I was visiting her. I believe death threats were involved. The Compromise is that I don't kill him if I don't see him outside of the Hyuuga Clan Compound."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The Hyuuga stuff seems pretty heavy handed to me now, and I probably wouldn't put it in if I ever decided to redo/extend this story (unlikely). It's main purpose was to get Hinata on the training trip. I like to think I could figure out a better way to do that if I still wanted to do it. Part of the reason, was that I had wanted to set up a shape-shifting Naruto, similar to what I later put into _Escape_ , only with Hinata being in the know.

I'm sure at least some people want to know if this was headed toward a Naruto/Hinata pairing? The answer is probably, but the story wasn't going to be romance oriented.


	5. Secret of the Fox Chapter 4

As they approached the Namikaze house, Kushina slowed down and looked toward one of the trees lining the street. Naruto's sensei, Hatake Kakashi hopped out of the tree and said, "Yo." Kakashi had spiky silver hair. His lower face was covered by a mask and his Leaf Badge tilted so that the headband covered his left eye.

"Sensei!" yelled Naruto.

"Kakashi-chan," said Kushina, "would you like to come in and talk?"

He rolled his eye at the "chan", but nodded and followed them inside as Kushina opened the gate.

"Tea?" asked Kushina.

Kakashi nodded again.

Kushina left momentarily. When she came back she said, "It will be ready shortly."

"You look pretty lively for a dead woman, Kushina-neesan," commented Kakashi.

"There's a good explanation for that."

"Oh?"

She gave him a sly grin. "I'm not dead."

"Obviously," he said. He waited, but Kushina did not add anything.

"Oh, come on!" Kakashi finally shouted. "Are you going to tell me where you've been?"

"Oh, you wanted to know where I've been? Why didn't you say so?" she asked innocently.

Naruto looked back and forth between his mom and sensei. He had never seen Kakashi so flustered before. He had once witnessed a somewhat similar exchange between Kakashi and Maito Gai, his so-called "Eternal Rival." Naruto had to admit that his mom was much better at it than Kakashi. It probably helped that Gai was much easier to fluster.

"Heh, Sensei," Naruto said. "My mom is much cooler and hipper than you." He referenced Gai's usual response to Kakashi's teasing.

Kakashi fake pouted causing Naruto to laugh.

"Well, Kakashi-kun," Kushina said, "mostly I was grieving the death of my husband, but I was also working on a way to ensure that that day didn't happen again. I've come up with a solution. It isn't perfect, but it should minimize the damage."

"You weren't. . ." Kakashi gestured with his eye to Naruto's stomach.

She shook her head. "Misdirection on the part of Jiraiya and Hiruzen. You were there, weren't you?"

"Yes," he said. "I was one of the ANBU attached to Sensei. I was the only survivor as far as I know other than you and Naruto."

"Can you tell me what happened? My memories of the even are very distorted by the genjutsu."

He nodded. "About five minutes after you gave birth something drew your attention to the window. I looked and saw a shadowy figure through the glass. You started shouting that someone had stolen your baby and were yelling for Sensei. You didn't recognize anyone there, not even Sensei or baby Naruto. Pretty soon you grew fox tails and were emanating a heavy red-colored chakra. Sensei handed Naruto-chan to me and told me to find the Third or Jiraiya-sama. The last thing I saw as I left was the yellow flash of his Flying Thunder God Technique. I don't know what happened to the midwife and the others that were there. They were alive when I left. I left Naruto-chan with the Third and started looking for Sensei. When I found him, he was fighting the three-story tall Nine Tails from atop Gamabunta. After Bunta got dismissed, Sensei leapt on top of the Fox and the two of you disappeared in another yellow flash. It was you, wasn't it? What happened to Sensei? The Third said he died sealing the Nine Tails into Naruto-chan."

"Yes, to my great shame and sorrow, that was me." She sniffed. "I don't remember much about being under the genjutsu—just the overwhelming panic of Naruto-chan being stolen and a single red pinwheel eye of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Towards the end I could feel a foreign, if familiar, chakra being pushed into me in pulses. Minato finally pushed all of his chakra into me which succeeded in breaking the genjutsu but left him dead of chakra exhaustion. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had been weaker than he was. He still would have died, but Konoha would have been totally destroyed with much of its people probably including Naruto-chan and I would probably still be a slave of _that man_."

"You know who it was?" asked Kakashi.

"The chakra was both like and not like that of Uchiha Madara."

"Didn't he die at Valley of the End?" Kakashi asked.

"I thought so and so did Hashirama. I'm not sure how he survived."

"So, you and Hashirama-sama?"

"Yes, Kakashi. I was also Uzumaki Mito."

"Wow. The reports I've heard of the First's wife totally clash with what I remember of you."

"Well, that was partly the difference between being acting like a teenager and young adult versus being the wife of the Hokage. But mostly I was tired of being dignified and elegant, so I let the mischievous part of my personality out a lot more."

The tea kettle whistled and Kushina got up to get it. She returned and poured the tea. "So, Kakashi. If you knew who my son was, why did he have such a horrible, lonely childhood?"

Kakashi flinched under her gaze. "I wanted to take care of him, but the Third told me to avoid personal contact as it would attract too much attention to him. So instead I was on his protection detail and was promised that I could be his jonin sensei when he became a genin."

Kushina sighed and quietly said. "Oh, Hiruzen-kun. If he wasn't so much like Minato, this would have totally backfired on you."

Naruto piped up, annoyed. "Hey! If you asked to be my sensei, why didn't you ever teach me anything? I honestly thought you only tolerated me because of Old Man Hokage."

"Naruto, I taught your team what you needed more than anything: teamwork."

Naruto snorted. "Maybe, but it seems like you paid a lot more attention to the Jerk than to Sakura or me. Whenever I asked you for help you put me off and you dumped me on the Closet Perv while you personally helped the Jerk for the Chunin Exam Finals."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, you've heard how I failed several teams at the initial genin team test?"

Naruto nodded.

"Honestly your team wasn't any better. I passed you only because I felt like you and Sasuke were my sensei's and my teammate Obito's legacies and wanted to do right by them. Sasuke is the last member of Obito's clan. I paid more attention to Sasuke because he needed to be handled with kid gloves. I knew you could handle it, but if Sasuke felt like anyone else was receiving special treatment he would have left."

Naruto snorted. "We see how well that went. The Jerk still left and I had to make due by myself, like always. The only one who's ever taught me anything was the Ero-sennin and I convinced him to teach me by myself."

"You guys were improving and growing as a team, at least until Orochimaru gave Sasuke the Cursed Seal. Naruto, I sent you to Ebisu because he could teach you the basics. The things that you never learned in the Academy due to being ignored or because of Mizuki's sabotage. Do you realize how amazing you could be with decent taijutsu in conjunction with your Shadow Clones or some decent ranged tactics? If you focused on three to five clones up close with good taijutsu or twenty at range with ninjutsu or throwing weapons you would do much better than summoning dozens and charging in headfirst. As is, your clones mostly get in each others way. I also focused on Sasuke for the Finals because he was facing the One Tail's unbalanced jinchuuriki."

"Why did you never tell me any of that?" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi looked at the floor. "My goal has been to help you guys figure out things by yourself. That's the way your father taught my team. He always said that people learned much better if they were lead to their own answers rather than just being told. I guess I'm just not good at it." He looked up. "In my defense, you _are_ my first team."

"Fine," Naruto shouted. He continued, "We haven't been a team even a year yet. I can forgive you for figuring out being a sensei as you go. The thing I haven't forgiven you for though, is teaching the Jerk that cursed Thousand Birds. What were you thinking, teaching someone as unhinged as him an assassination technique?"

"I'm interested in hearing the answer to that question too," Kushina growled.

Kakashi sighed. "It was the only thing I could think of to allow him to survive the match with Gaara-san. In hindsight it looks bad, but he was improving a great deal. I honestly think that without the Snake's interference, he would have been fine. My only benchmark for the Cursed Seal is Mitarashi Anko-san. You met her as the proctor of the second part of the Chunin Exams. She's a little bit unbalanced, but she hates Orochimaru and is intensely loyal to Konoha. I didn't think the Seal would change Sasuke-kun's loyalties."

Naruto snorted. "You forget that the Jerk's first loyalty since the Massacre has always been to his vengeance. Everything else is secondary and can be sacrificed."

Kakashi nodded sadly. "I'm glad we understand each other better now. I've talked to the Hokage and she said she would come up with a replacement for Sasuke-kun, at least temporarily. In the meantime, we'll continue training with just the three of us."

Kushina spoke up. "I'm taking Naruto on a training trip for several years. He has much he needs to catch up on. I plan on teaching him Uzumaki Clan skills, a few of his father's techniques, and about the. . . rest of his heritage."

Kakashi nodded. "Jiraiya-sama had told me he was planning on doing something similar." He sighed. "Maybe I should find someone to take over with Sakura-chan and give up mentoring for now."

Naruto stood up. "Don't worry, Sensei. I'll be back before you know it. We'll rescue our Jerk from the Snake Jerk and Team Seven will be back in action again! Believe it!"

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. Kushina smiled fondly at her son.

Kakashi said, "Come by our training ground at the normal time anyway. At the very least you can say goodbye to Sakura. Take care of yourself, kid."

* * *

Naruto was heading toward Training Ground Seven at the nominal time. Kakashi was always at least two hours late, but he figured he could use the time to talk to Sakura. Hinata had come by yesterday evening to spend the night. Now that her escape from the Hyuuga Elders was nigh, she did not want a chance comment to mess it up and she was avoiding them. She was currently saying goodbye to her own team. Naruto's mom had gone to talk to the Hokage in order to get official orders for the training mission cut for the three of them. Naruto and Kushina did not think there would be a problem, but better safe than being labeled a missing nin by an overzealous hunter nin.

Sakura was already there and was reading a book.

"Heya, Sakura-chan," called Naruto. "Whatcha reading?"

"Introduction to medical ninjutsu."

"Cool. Any reason?"

"Sensei came to talk to me last night. He said that you yelled at him for never teaching us anything."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"Anyway," she continued, "he said that I had the Academy material down perfectly and wanted to know what I wanted to learn next. To be honest I hadn't thought about it enough and asked what he recommended. He said that it was customary to focus on strengths or to shore up weaknesses. I've know since Nami that my biggest strength was my chakra control and my biggest weakness was my chakra reserves. I asked what would play toward my chakra control and what would increase my reserves. He said that medical ninjutsu and genjutsu were both big into chakra control and that simply using chakra frequently would increase my reserves. Both medicine and genjutsu interest me so I figured that I'd talk to Tsunade and Kurenai to see if either of them could tutor me. Both of them are busy, but hopefully one of them could spare some time. I think I'd like to get the basics of both of them down and then decide which one to focus in."

"That sound like a good plan. You might also want to talk to Shizune-neechan. She's Bachan's apprentice and is also crazy good at medical ninjutsu. She'll probably have more time than Bachan."

Sakura shook her head. "Naruto can't you show the Hokage some respect?"

"Huh? But she's family. She's actually my cousin. Hinata-chan said she was my 'second cousin once removed,' but that's too complicated, so I call her 'Bachan.' Plus, she said I could. Although I think it was just to get me to stop calling her 'Baachan.'"

Sakura shook her head again. "Naruto, you're incorrigible."

Naruto gave her a blank look, not knowing what that word meant, but not wanting to ask. Finally, he asked, "How's the medical book coming?"

"Pretty well. I picked it up from the Library this morning. I'm only a few chapters in, but I think I'm leaning toward it if I can get some tutoring."

"Awesome."

Sakura went back to her book and Naruto pulled at an introductory fuuinjutsu book that his mom had picked out from their home's library.

Sakura looked up and saw him with the book. "A book? Really? What is it? A ramen cookbook?" she teased.

"Hah. Hah. No this is a fuuinjutsu primer. Sealing is an Uzumaki Clan specialty. Kaachan wants to teach me. The only drawback I see so far is that I'm going to have to really improve my penmanship."

"That's neat. I don't know a whole lot about fuuinjutsu, but I've heard you can do some crazy powerful things with it and some preparation."

He nodded. "Both my parents were Seal Masters, so I'm really psyched about learning it."

"Really? So, your mom told you about your dad? He's not still alive too, is he?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, my dad was Namikaze Minato. He's been dead since the day I was born."

"Namikaze Minato. . . That's the name of . . ."

"Uh huh. Bachan was going to tell everyone when she re-introduced Kaachan to the village leaders this evening. Don't go spreading it around though. I want it to be a kick in the face when they figure out how they've been treating the village hero's son." He smirked.

"Ino-pig will flip out." She returned his smirk. "I think I'll hang out at her shop tonight until her dad comes home."

Sakura paused. "In hindsight, it's pretty obvious. You look just like him."

"My birth was a secret to protect me and Kaachan from Iwa. It's not like the village was expecting me, but still. . ."

"So how is your mom? Things going well between you?"

"Yeah. It's great."

"I think it's great that your mom has returned," said Sakura.

"It is!" exclaimed Naruto. He calmed down and then asked, "Did sensei tell you Kaachan is taking me on a long training trip?"

Sakura shook her head. "How long?"

"Two or three years, I think."

"Ah. You were just now becoming respectable. When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

The two genin settled down to read their books and wait for their sensei to show up.

* * *

They had not actually done any training today. Once Kakashi had shown up they had reminisced about the good times and talked about how awesome they would be by the time Naruto returned. Naruto walked back toward his house. He smiled at the thought. He had a house! And a mother!

"Hey, brat," said a voice from above.

Naruto looked up. Lounging on a tree branch was Jiraiya the Toad Sage. "Hiya, Ero-sennin," Naruto exclaimed.

Jiraiya frowned. "When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"When you stop perving."

"Anyway," the silver-haired man continued. "I heard your mom came back."

"Yeah, it's been great!"

"I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you I'd planned on taking you on a long training trip?"

"I got a better offer, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya hopped down and started posing pretentiously. "A better offer than the Gallant Jiraiya the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myooboku—a better offer than training with Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin?"

"Yeah, I think so. I managed to get an offer from Uzumaki Kushina. I think she can teach me about being an Uzumaki and the rest of my heritage better than you. Don't you think?"

Jiraiya ruffled his hair and smiled. "Good for you, brat. I was actually expecting this when I heard she came back. I just wanted you to know I've turned over a new leaf and am actually trying to be a responsible godfather."

"Hah! I'll believe that when I see it, Ero-sennin!" Naruto smiled. He gave the older man a light punch in the arm. "Thanks, Jiraiya. You did teach me some good things before the Exams and while we were looking for Bachan. Even if it took you nearly thirteen years to start being responsible."

The Toad Sage raised his eyebrow. "'Bachan?'"

Naruto shrugged. "It's a compromise. We discovered we're cousins and so she talked me into that instead of 'Baachan.'"

Jiraiya chuckled. "I still can't believe you got away with calling her that without losing teeth."

"What can I say? I'm just too lovable." Naruto paused. "If there's something you think I should learn, you can always tell Kaachan."

Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and said. "I think it's best if I avoid your mom for a bit. Give her a decade or so to get over not looking after you as well as I should have."

"Ah, Ero-sennin. She can't really get too mad at you for that when she didn't look after me either."

"You'd be surprised at what that woman can get mad about." the older man grumbled under his breath. He spoke up and said, "Good luck on your trip, brat. Learn a lot and take care of yourself."

"I will and you take care of yourself too, Old Perv." The two hugged and Jiraiya leaped up and took off through the trees.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And that's as far as I got. I had plans to do the village meeting, but after that I was kind of stuck. I didn't really have anything in mind for the training trip other than Kushina teaching Naruto shape-shifting and hijinks related to that, but I didn't want to come up with a couple of years worth of material on my own. I had a couple of scenes vaguely in mind for their return involving a shape-shifted Naruto playing tricks on the other rookies similar to what ended up in _Double the Trouble_ , but that was it. It felt kind of lame to go to a huge time skip so soon after starting, and so the story died and I ended up writing _The Vulpine Rabbit_ , which I ended up having a much better handle on.

The next chapter in this compilation will be the start of a different story.


	6. Child of the Fox Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This is my second fan fiction that I attempted. I actually had something of a direction to go with this one, but then I started writing _The Shared Doom_ , which I got into more. Since they are both Ranma as a Fox stories, I decided to only continue one of them and _TSD_ won. I had originally written this in the third person, but was having a hard time deciding which pronouns to use for Ranma-as-a-girl. I decided to get around this by re-writing it in the first person. I think I caught all the glaring remnants of the first version.

* * *

 **Summary** : When Ranma's mother comes to visit, he discovers that she has a secret heritage. He also discovers why his cursed form has red hair.

* * *

Ranma and his friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi. This is fan fiction created for fun.

* * *

The Tendo household was quiet for once. Soun, Old Man Tendo, was playing shogi with Pop. They were both cheating outrageously. The oldest Tendo daughter, 19-year-old Kasumi, was fixing dinner in the kitchen. The middle daughter, 17-year-old Nabiki, was scheming in her room. The youngest daughter, 16-year-old Akane, was kneeling next to me at the table working on her homework. I was ostensibly working on my homework too, but was mostly daydreaming. My engagement to Akane engagement was arranged by our fathers from before we were born to "join the schools" of Anything Goes Martial Arts and was mostly undesired.

We were starting to become friends, but we both denied it most of the time. We were both strong willed. I had a huge ego and suffered from the worst case of foot-in-mouth disease imaginable. I was very rough around the edges, mostly due to the 10-year training trip Pop had dragged me on. Saotome Genma thought that anything that was not martial arts was a waste of time and he had dubious judgment with regards to the sanity of training methods. I also had numerous complications in my life, mostly due to Pop's greed and laziness—the biggest of which was my other fiancées—none of which were wanted. Akane had anger issues—especially with regard to boys due to a very persistent and very unwanted suitor at school. We both thought we were too young to be worrying about marriage, but both our fathers were very persistent. The fathers' interference inevitably made things worse between the two of us.

A knock was heard at the front door which woke me up. I had learned that most visitors were trouble for me—although knocking was a good sign. The real trouble usually involved yelling or busting through the walls. I heard Kasumi answer the door.

"Hello, young lady," a woman's voice said. "My name is Saotome Nodoka." I saw Pop freeze out of the corner of my eye. "I understand that my husband Genma and my son Ranma are staying here. Are they in?"

My heart began to beat quickly. My mother? I had always assumed she was dead or had abandoned us. Pop never spoke about her. Whenever I had asked he had responded, "Stop being such a weak little girl" and started "sparring" with me. When I was younger the "spars" amounted to little more than beatings.

I started to stand up. I felt Pop approach and then the splash of cool water. The change washed over me. I had picked up a shape-changing curse from Jusenkyo. Jusenkyo was a collection of cursed springs and each spring had a template based on whatever had drowned in them before. If you fell in the spring, whenever you got wet with cold water again you changed into the template. Hot water changed you back into your natural form. I had fallen into the Spring of Drowned Girl. Whenever I got wet I turned into a short, petite, but obviously female girl. I looked like my own sister, but for some reason my hair changed color to red as well. Luckily my clothes adjusted slightly with the curse, otherwise I'd be tripping on pant legs and swimming in my sleaves—not to mention always losing my shoes. Even so, my clothes did hang a lot looser on my girl form. What was even luckier is that I didn't get crushed the few times I wore girl clothes that fit that form and got suddenly changed back to normal. I knew a few others that had Jusenkyo curses as well, mostly animal-based ones—including Pop whose fault it was that we both were cursed.

I frowned and looked at my father who was holding an empty cup. I tried not to think of how cute and pouty my frown looked. "We need to go or that crazy woman will kill us both," Pop said.

I frowned and Akane gasped. The Old Man was a notorious liar, cheat, and had a poor opinion of women. I wanted to meet my mother, but wouldn't put it past Pop to have done something stupid to ruin it for me. I grabbed the Old Man and threw him out the open sliding door and into the goldfish pond in the yard where he promptly turned into a fat panda. I sighed to myself. I was already wearing the perfect disguise. It wouldn't hurt to be cautious. I hoped.

Kasumi led another woman into the room. Dismissing thoughts of my troublemaking father, I looked at the woman who was my mother—probably. She had reddish brown hair in a bun and was fairly tall. Other than that, she looked like a more elegant, older version of my girl form. She was dressed in an elaborate kimono and carried a cloth-wrapped bundle that looked suspiciously like it contained a katana. Her eyes swept the people in the room before lingering on me for a second longer than was normal.

"Family," Kasumi began, "this is Saotome Nodoka-san. Saotome-san, this is my father, Tendo Soun-san, my little sister, Akane-chan, and. . ."

It was too risky to be introduced as Saotome Ranma, so I hopped up and said enthusiastically, "Hi! My name is Ranko. I'm Akane-chan's cousin. It's nice to meet you!" I bowed.

Akane and Soun were staring at me like I'd grown another head. Kasumi simply shrugged and smiled. Kasumi continued, "She is here to see Ranma and Genma."

I spoke up again. "Genma dragged Ranma off on another training trip. It was supposed to be just for the weekend, but Genma isn't exactly reliable." That should give me enough flexibility to figure out what was really going on. I hated to lie to my mom, but experience had told me that the trouble Pop could get into didn't have any limits.

My supposed mother frowned. "What about school tomorrow?" It was a Friday and most Japanese schools had half-days on Saturday.

I chuckled—or tried to anyway—my cute, girly voice made it sound distressingly like a giggle. "Saotome Genma doesn't care about anything food, lounging about, and teaching his Art to his son."

Nodoka frowned. "So you expect them to be here next week?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. Like I said, Genma isn't exactly reliable." I smiled inside. Any extra trouble I could get the Old Man was only a small down payment on what he owed me.

She paused and then continued, "Excuse me Ranko-san, but you look very familiar to me. Can you tell me your mother's name?"

I started to panic inside until I realized that the truth—slightly altered—would do here. "I'm sorry Saotome-san, but I haven't seen her since I was little and my father never talked about her and he is no longer with us."

The older redhead sighed. "It's just that you look very much like one of my sisters or cousins. Perhaps we could go for a short walk and talk? Perhaps we could jog a memory loose that would help us solve this mystery?"

Spending time with my mom and verifying the extent of the new problem Pop had gotten him into sounded like a good idea. Hopefully, I could confess to her soon.

* * *

As we walked away from the Tendo home, Mom asked, "Is there a place you would like to go or should we just wander?"

"There's a park not far from here that we could walk through or find a bench to sit on."

"That sounds nice."

I decided to wait for Mom to begin speaking since she was the one that had requested the outing and I was at a loss as to what to say to her-especially in disguise.

Finally, the older woman began, "Do you remember anything about your mother?"

I shook my head. "No, my father ran away with me when I was little and the rigors of martial arts training has made me forget my early years."

Nodoka frowned. "Your father ran away with you?"

I nodded.

Mom continued. "The women in my clan have a tradition where they sign a pre-nuptial contract with their husbands giving the wife legal control over any girl children and the husband control over any sons. I can tell that you are part of my clan and I am positive that your mother had the contract made before marrying your father. It is disturbing that your father did not honor the contract."

I asked, "How do you know that my parents signed the contract?"

Mom pursed her lips. "How open minded are you about the supernatural?"

I laughed and held out his hand and formed a blue, glowing ki ball in my palm. "I'm a high level martial artist that can manipulate life energy. I've also had more bad run ins with magic and spirits than I care to think about."

Mom reached out her hand. "You're a remarkable young woman, Ranko-san. Can I touch it?"

I caused the ball to shrink and dim just to be safe. "You can if you want. I should warn you that it will probably pop when you touch it and that will make it sting a little."

She touched the ball and it popped. She waved her hand for a few seconds, but kept smiling. "I will say it again. That was remarkable. The ball had a strong sense of confidence in it."

I smiled back at her. "It's easiest to externally express ki through emotions. I've found confidence works best for me."

"Is that safe? To artificially reinforce your emotions like that?"

I tapped my lips and thought about Ryoga and his Lion's Roar. I'd long thought that Ryoga fueling his attacks with his depression was not good for him. I'd thought that using confidence was better, but I wasn't sure if I could see any consequences from the inside. "I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it and look into alternatives."

My mother began again. "Our clan is very old and has some supernatural characteristics that our ancestors found were hard to pass on. Only about 1-in-20 children were born with the clan's bloodline. One of our ancestors came up with a plan to increase the chance of continuing the clan's bloodline to 1-in-2. The mechanism for this was a mystical contract that gave the bloodline to all female children, but none of the male. In magic, there is always a cost. The cost for propagating our bloodline was to 'give' our male children to their fathers. Now, don't get me wrong. We love our sons and I would give almost anything to see mine again, but I did not have a lot of options to prevent his father from running off with him. One thing you need to be aware of is that because of your mystical bloodline, any promises or contracts you make have a way of enforcing themselves—especially if you ever awaken the bloodline." She smiled nastily. "Your father either has or will find that out to his regret."

I smirked to myself. That had to be one of the panda's worst nightmares: having to honor his obligations. I frowned. I hoped that the condition didn't extend to my male side. There was no way I could honor all the contradictory things the idiot panda signed me up for.

Mom continued. "I am pretty sure your mother is still around. If you found out anything about her: a name, where you used to live, a marriage date, or anything else I could probably find her. We are an individualistic clan, but we have methods of keeping in touch. If we cannot find your mother, I would be willing to awaken your bloodline and teach you about it. I could be like an aunt. In fact, I would like it if you called me obasan. Can I call you Ranko-chan?"

I did not like being called "chan" for the most part. It made me feel too cutesy. I didn't mind Ukyo calling me Ran-chan because it reminded me of being childhood friends with her, but anyone else. . . I did want to get closer to Mom though and did not want to disappoint her.

"That would be fine, obasan. I have my father's journals I can look through. Maybe I can find some answers there. Would we be able to meet tomorrow afternoon?" That would give me time to beat some answers out of the panda about Mom supposedly wanting to kill me. Hopefully it was nothing and I could confess to her.

"That would be wonderful, Ranko-chan," Mom answered. "Is 2 o'clock fine at the Tendo home?"

I nodded and bowed to her before heading back.

* * *

I started looking for the Old Man as I jumped over the Tendo compound wall. Pop was still hiding as a panda and was trying to make it look more "realistic" by playing with a beach ball.

"You owe me some answers, Old Man!" I yelled as I jump kicked Pop.

He managed to block the kick. Most days I managed to thrash the Old Man. I knew Pop was keeping some dirty tricks in reserve for when he needed a win, but the Old Man never trained anymore, other than our morning spars. After about 10 minutes of back and forth with Pop getting more than he gave, the panda man held up a sign that read, _Hold on! I'll tell you!_ —flip— _Let's go inside and change!_

Both of us went into the kitchen. Kasumi smiled and handed me a kettle with warm water in it. I bowed a quick thanks and poured about a cup's worth on my head and returned to my birth form. I handed the kettle to Pop who dumped the rest on his head, making a mess in the process of changing shape. I thought I saw irritation flash through Kasumi's eyes, but it was gone quickly. I grabbed a towel to dry my hair, but Pop didn't bother.

I followed the Old Man into the main room. The Tendo family all gathered as well—Kasumi and the middle sister, Nabiki, joining Akane and her father who were already there. I thought that Nabiki must have smelt blood in the water and come to gloat.

"Spill it, Old Man!" I said. "Why did you say Mom would have us killed? She seemed like a nice, _sane_ , lady. Much nicer than you—that's for sure."

"Show some respect, Boy!" Pop yelled.

"Earn some respect, Old Man!" I retorted.

"Quit whining like a weak girl, Boy!" Pop said. He threw a glass of water at me, triggering the change.

I resisted the urge to throw Pop in the fish pond, knowing that finding anything out via his panda signs would take much longer. I settled for glaring at the older man.

"You've always been a momma's boy," Pop sneered. "You would follow her around when you were little and always paid more attention to her than your lessons in the Art. I knew I had to get you away from her or you would have been even more of a weak girl than you are right now. I talked to your mother about taking you on a training trip, but she wouldn't agree. Finally, I gave her this to ease her concerns and she agreed."

Pop held up a scroll with worn edges that he had pulled from his gi. He unrolled it on the table. The scroll said, _I, Saotome Genma, swear on my honor to train my son, Saotome Ranma, to be a Man among Men or we will both commit seppuku._ Pop had signed his name underneath. Underneath the signature were a couple of small handprints and some child's doodles.

"Kind of hard to be a Man among Men looking like you do, Saotome," drawled Nabiki visibly letting her eyes roam over my body, lingering longer than was polite at the chest.

"Surely, a child's handprints couldn't obligate Ranma to such a ridiculous contract," said Akane with a touch of worry in her voice. It was nice to know she cared—at least a little.

Pop shook his head. "No-chan is very traditional and very concerned with honor and contracts. She is nice and polite on the surface, but iron underneath."

I thought about my meeting with the woman who must be my mother. She had been anxious to find me and seemed to miss me dearly, but there was the talk of binding contracts. I knew Pop wanted to limit the influence of others on me, so he could be lying about her accepting the contract. The Old Man lied as easily as he breathed. I would need to try and sound her out without giving away too much.

"You're an idiot, Pop," I said and threw the Old Man out into the pond.

Soun began wailing, "Now the Schools will never be joined!"

"What are you going to do now, Ranma?" Akane asked.

"I'll think of something. I always do," I said.

Nabiki snorted. "This should be good."


	7. Child of the Fox Chapter 2

I had decided to skip school. After all, I had already told Mom I would. It was not as if I would learn much at Furinkan anyway. I had lain on the roof of the Tendo home all morning trying to make sense of what I should do. After lunch, I escaped back up to the roof in my girl form. I had kept the so-called contract last night and was currently staring at it as if it were a poisonous snake. I shook my head and put it away. I idly monitored the walk up to the gate as I thought about the best way to find out what Mom really thought about the seppuku contract.

A couple of minutes before 2 o'clock I saw Mom approaching the gate. I hopped off the roof and ran to meet her. "Could we go somewhere quiet and private?" I asked.

"Would you like to come to my house?" she asked in return. "It's a 30-minute walk."

"That would be great," I responded.

During the walk Mom tried to make small talk, but I was too distracted and nervous to really keep it up. Not that I excelled in conversation in the first place.

About 15 minutes into the walk I decided to use the cover of small talk to see if I could figure out what Mom thought of the contract. "What kind of qualities do you think a 'Man among Men' has?" I asked.

She chuckled. "So you found out about the 'Man among Men' seppuku promise, did you? I imagine my foolish husband is sweating quite a lot about that."

"Akane's sister Nabiki, I don't think you've met her yet, is a big snoop. She found out about the contract and couldn't help rubbing it in Ranma's face while I was there." That was all true, if a little misleading.

"I imagine that's why they were on the training trip. It's what I would expect from Genma, but I'm a little disappointed that my son ran off with him. It shows a lack of faith in his mother."

"Can you blame him?" I asked feeling a little irritated. "Genma is the only example of a parent that he has. So you wouldn't hold him to the contract?"

Mom shook her head. "This is a lesson that you need to learn very quickly, Ranko-chan, having the heritage you do. I can easily hold to the contract without any heartache because of how silly and ill-defined it is. 'Man among Men.' What does that mean? The so-called contract doesn't say, nor does it say who the judge of it would be. It also isn't a contract because it isn't between two parties. Neither my signature nor my stamp is on it. I have no obligation to it and while Genma does have authority over our son, no court would consider it binding on Ranma. Also, the Saotome clan has so little honor right now that failing to honor it wouldn't lessen the clan's honor. As for fulfilling it, all I have to do is have Ranma stand between two men and he is a 'Man among Men.'"

I could not help myself and started giggling.

"I would ask you not to tell my husband the easy out. I am very upset with him taking my son with me for 10 years and I intend to milk it for a while. If you get a chance to talk to Ranma privately before I do, could you let him know the joke?"

I grinned. "I'm very sure he will appreciate the joke at his old man's expense."

After a few seconds I asked, "Why did you let them go on the trip if you miss your son so much?"

Mom sighed. "I told you about the pre-nuptial contract yesterday. To ensure that my heritage would pass to my daughter, if I had one, I gave up most of my rights to my son. When my foolish husband approached me about the trip, I ignored him and refused to tell him yes or no about it. I hoped that he would not look through the marriage contract and find out that he didn't have to ask me. Finally, after a week he simply took Ranma and left the so-called contract behind. I'm not sure why he left the contract. Maybe he thought it would imply a lack of sanity on my part which would justify him leaving, not thinking about the fact that I never signed it."

I snorted. "Sounds like one of his half-baked plans."

The two of us walked in companionable silence for a few more minutes until we arrived at her home. It was a nice-sized home—three bedrooms if I were to guess. I remembered very little of my life before the cat fist "training" Pop put me through. The so-called training left me with a debilitating fear of cats and a fighting style that was almost always more trouble than it was worth because it caused me to lose conscious control of myself. In fact, I could only remember it being useful once—in my fight the Old Ghoul. Because of the torture Pop put him through in the name of training, I had no memories of my mom or childhood home.

"Have you lived here long?" I asked.

She nodded. "I've lived here for over 20 years. Genma moved in after we got married, but I've lived her alone since he took Ranma on the training trip."

Mom opened the door and guided me to the main room. "Would you like tea, Ranko-chan?" she asked.

I mentally took a deep breath. From what I had gathered, I thought I could trust my mom. "Yes, please. Could you also get me a pitcher of cold water and one of hot, but not scalding water? Also, a towel, please?"

She nodded and headed to the kitchen. Ten minutes later she returned with the hot and cold water and a towel. She set them on the low table and left and returned with the tea on a tray.

After we had sipped our tea for a few minutes, I spoke up, "I believe I have found out who my mother is, but I need to explain a few things about myself first."

"Very well, Ranko-chan," Mom responded.

"My pop is a fool who spends more time and energy chasing after shortcuts than it would take to actually work toward what he wants. In his efforts to teach me his Martial Art, he took me to a "legendary training ground" in the Western Chinese wilderness called Jusenkyo in Japanese. The pamphlet he had on it was in Chinese, so he barely understood it. Have you heard of the place?"

"No, but the name sounds ominous."

"The Springs of Sorrow are well named. There are dozens of springs there each with its own 'tragic story' and curse. Since we talked about the supernatural yesterday, I don't think I need to talk about curses being real."

She shook her head.

I continued, "Most of the springs at Jusenkyo have a curse associated with the thing that drowned in the spring. If you fall in the spring you gain the shape of the thing that drowned there. Most of the curses are animal based—I know people who turn into a piglet, a duck, and a c-c-cat. Cold water activates the curse. Warm water turns you back, temporarily."

"Judging by the pitchers you asked me to get, you have a curse, don't you, Ranko-chan? What do you turn into?"

I nodded. "I turn into a girl." I poured some hot water over my head and changed into my birth form. "I beat the story out of Pop. My mom's name is Nodoka."

Mom stared at me for two seconds and then glomped me over the top of the low table. "Oh, Ranma-chan. I'm so happy to have found you again."

"You aren't mad about the curse?" I asked.

She snorted. "Why would I be mad about a little shapeshifting? I can do it too." Her form flowed into the shape of an older, silver-haired gentleman who appeared to be in his sixties wearing an elegant male kimono. "Although the involuntary aspect would probably take a lot of the fun out of it."

My jaw dropped and I shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Can you please change back? That's more disturbing than I'm prepared to deal with right now."

"Very well," she said in a cultured baritone before she changed back to what he was accustomed to.

"So the girl form is your natural shape, right?" I chuckled nervously.

"Well, no this isn't my natural shape either." She giggled. "But yes—I was born female." Her hair changed to a brighter red and her aged regressed to an indeterminate age somewhere between 18 and 30, but occasionally appearing far older. Her face developed a fey beauty to it and her feminine figure became more pronounced. Her eyes lightened to a bright green with slit-like pupils. Most startling were two red and white triangle-shaped ears poking up through her hair and the six fox tails sticking out from her tailbone.

"Fox spirit," I whispered. "Have you always been one?"

She giggled, wagging her tails. "More or less. This is the mystic heritage I was talking about—although I didn't come into it until I was fourteen. I can tell that your female form has the potential. That's how I knew we were related. Well, that and you looked almost like I did at that age."

She adopted a more serious look. "I'm a little hurt that you hid from me yesterday. Did you really think your mother would enforce that stupid promise?"

I scratched the back of my head and laughed nervously. "Well, I didn't know anything about you other than what Pop said about you going to kill us. I wanted to trust you, but with Pop being as stupid as he is and you having married him. . . I just wanted to get to know you a little first."

She frowned. "You weren't that young when you left. Six is old enough to remember I'm not that type of mother."

I laughed nervously again. "Um. I don't really remember anything before a training incident not long into the trip."

Her frown deepened. "A training incident?"

I hated talking about the Cat Fist. It was embarrassing. No one else thought cats were as vicious as I knew them to be. It was also a glaring weakness. Plus, I didn't like thinking about them. However, my mom deserved to know and I didn't think she'd let it go until I explained.

I scratched the back of my head again. "Ever heard of the C-c-cat Fist?"

She shook her head.

I continued. "It's supposed to be the ultimate martial arts technique, but it's not worth it. Pop found it in a training manual and the idiot author put the warnings about it being too stupid to do and that it should be avoided on the last page. Pop being and idiot didn't read that far before 'training' me in it. You accomplish the training by digging a pit and putting starving c-c-cats in it. You tie the trainee up and cover them in fish products and then throw them in. You repeat until the trainee 'learns' the technique. The technique is supposed to make the trainee into an unstoppable c-c-cat-like warrior, which is mostly what happened to me. Evidently it drives most trainees into being insane berserkers, but for me it causes me to black out and act like a c-c-cat. I can never remember what happens while I'm under its influence, but they tell me I become playful and act like a k-k-kitten, but become irritable if attacked. I go around on all fours and can attack with half-meter-long ki claws. The first time Pop tells me I almost killed him. Luckily an old woman snapped me out of it by letting me fall asleep on her lap. Thankfully, I've never killed anyone under the influence. Nowadays, I snap out of by napping in Akane's lap or if the curse makes me change. I hate it. I hate the nightmares I still have. I hate the loss of control. I hate people laughing at me when I run from the little demons. Anyway, the experience was so traumatic I don't really remember anything that happened before it."

She hugged him across the table again. "I'm so sorry, Ranma-chan. I knew your father was foolish, but I never guessed he would be that stupid or that horrible."

I held her at arm's length. "Don't pity me, Mom. Even though I hate it, I can handle it." I gave a strained laugh. "Also, can you not call me '-chan.' It makes me feel like a little kid." Or girly, I thought to myself, but didn't say out loud.

"Of course, Ranma. I'm much older than I look and you were very little when you left. I guess I never stopped thinking of you as my little son."

"I _am_ sixteen now." I looked at her tails. "Do your tails mean you are over 600 years old?"

She giggled. "Ranma, don't you know not to ask a woman her age?"

I rolled my eyes.

She giggled again. "In our clan tails don't work exactly like that, although there is one fox clan that does do the one tail per hundred years."

"How many fox clans are there?" I asked.

"I'm not sure how many there are world wide, but there are five with some connection to Japan. Our clan is called the Kitsune no Onna Clan since we are a matrilineal clan, but we just use Kitsune as our family name. Our tribe has a hybrid system. The first three tails are earned by learning skills, the next four are earned by age, and the eighth is granted as a special achievement from the Matriarch, and the Matriarch is the only one with nine tails."

"So you're over 300 years old?"

Mom looked put out, but I could see a twinkle in her eye that let me know she was teasing me. "Yes, I'm 324 years old."

"Huh, the Old Ghoul is supposed to be about that age," I said without thinking.

Mom frowned. "Old Ghoul?"

"Heh heh." I scratched the back of my head. "Cologne of the Chinese Amazons. She looks like a wrinkled and shrunken old mummy with long white hair. I'll tell you about the Amazons later. I assume you want to hear about the whole trip and what's happened since I got back to Nerima?"

"Yes, I do. Do you want to hear more about our clan first?"

"Kind of. You said my girl side has the potential to awaken your bloodline? What would that involve? It wouldn't lock my curse, would it?"

"Has that happened before?" she asked.

"The Old Ghoul hit me with a pressure point called the Full-Body C-c-cat's Tongue that made even warm water feel unbearably hot so that I couldn't change back to a guy for a couple of weeks. Supposedly the only thing that could reverse it was a Phoenix Pill that she was blackmailing me with so that I would marry her great granddaughter. I eventually got the pill from her. That was the only time the C-cat Fist has been useful. I used it to beat her. Anyway, it seems to me that magic and the supernatural never make my life better." I paused. "Being able to shapeshift back to being a guy without water makes it tempting though. Maybe if I thought of it as a new technique it wouldn't be so bad?"

"You'll have to tell me about the rest of your misadventures later. Awakening your bloodline is fairly easy. It just requires the right type of meditation. I can teach it to you."

"What kind of, err, techniques would I get from my bloodline?" I asked.

"There are four. . . techniques," she said giggling, "that all women in our clan have: telekinesis, shapeshifting, foxfire, and illusions. The strength of the techniques mostly depends on the number of tails you have. Each tail adds an object that you can move with your mind at the same time. It adds to the time you can be shapeshifted, and the strength of your illusions. When you unlock the bloodline, you get your first tail and can move one object with your tail at a distance and can shapeshift. When you can shapeshift for an hour gain your second tail and can start using foxfire. When you can sustain foxfire away from your body for five minutes you gain your third tail and can use illusions. After that you gain tails through experience, one per hundred years up to seven total. The eighth and ninth tails are special like I said before. Once you gain your third tail you might be able to pick up other techniques." She grinned at me. "While you were gone I learned some diagnosis and healing techniques. They seemed useful for a martial artist's mother."

"Are there any drawbacks?" I asked.

"I can't think of any other than having to spend more time as a girl. I'm not sure what will happen as you grow older—if your male body will stop aging too or if you'll have to figure out a way to lock your curse or die." She paused. "I thought I noticed something odd when you changed. Do you mind doing it a few times for me while I use my diagnosis technique?" The corners of her mouth twitched.

She motioned for me to stand, so I did. She stood in front of me and put her right hand on my forehead and closed her eyes. After about 30 seconds she opened her eyes and then poured the cold water on her head and I changed. She closed her eyes for another 30 seconds and then poured the warm water on my head and I changed back.

"Fascinating," she said. "Come over to the mirror and see if you can figure the oddity I've noticed."

I had never really watched myself change. I always felt guilty when I triggered the change on purpose. Akane always calling me a pervert and Pop insulting me for the curse were probably at the root of that.

"Wait until you've changed both ways before commenting," Mom said.

I nodded. She poured the cold water on my head. I watched as my shoulders and ribcage compacted. I lost 15 centimeters of height. My chest grew out. My head shrank and my facial features became more feminine. Lastly my hair changed to bright red. The whole process took less than 3 seconds. The only thing I felt was a slight tingle and my clothes shifting. If I had not have been watching it, I probably would not have noticed.

She waited a few seconds and then poured the warm water on my head. My head and face changed back. My chest shrank. I got my height back. My shoulders and ribs expanded. The change paused for a few seconds and then the red in my hair gradually darkened to its normal black.

"Huh," I said, "My hair color change lags the rest of my change turning back to a guy."

"It actually does both ways. It's just more noticeable going to your male form. The interesting thing is that changing genders shouldn't change your hair color in the first place. None of the hair color genes are on the X or Y chromosome. The red in your female form's hair is an expression of our clan's magic." She grinned as I flinched at the word. "It takes a second to kick in when you change to female and then about 3 seconds to fade when you go back to male. I'm positive that you can awaken your bloodline. When you do that you will be able to pool your magic into a reservoir much like you do your ki. In fact, the two energies interact somewhat. I think you might be able to keep your magic reservoir while male although it won't refill until you change to female if you use any of it. If that works you'll be a redhead while male too."

"There is something that always seems out of reach when I fight as a girl, but I've never investigated it because I'm rarely a girl by choice."

She nodded and then became very serious. "I did find the manifestation of your curse. Its magic snakes throughout your life force. It's very intertwined like a late-stage cancer. I could probably remove it, but only by amputating most of your ki. You would end up very sickly and it probably wouldn't regrow."

I collapsed to the floor and sat against the wall hugging my legs. This was my second-worst nightmare—behind the Cat Fist ones. I was never getting cured. Finding the Spring of Drowned Man would not cure me, if the nature of the curse was as Mom described. Mom knelt beside me and rested her hand on my shoulder.

"Do you need more time to think about this?" she asked. "I could teach you the meditation anytime." She smirked. "I can tell you've met the only other requirement which it to have experienced your first period."

I turned beet red and shrank into myself. I had never been so embarrassed in my life and I've done some very stupid things before. This is not something a teenaged boy wants to talk about.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Ranma. My fox side is acting up. We're very mischievous. I shouldn't tease you about this. Did someone help you with it?"

I fought down my embarrassment. "Yes," I said quietly. "Thankfully we were at the Tendo's when the first one happened. Kasumi helped me and luckily no one else knows. With how sheltered Pop kept me, I didn't know what was happening and thought I was seriously injured. Luckily my cycle only runs while I'm actually a girl, so I only go through it once every two or three months." I finally looked at her again. "Yes, I'd like to think about it. It sounds fun, but I need to make sure."

To be honest, I was already like my Mom much more than Pop. The opportunity to bond with her was very attractive. Most people who heard even the highlights of my upbringing would be shocked to find out that I didn't hate my pop. He was foolish, selfish, and, most of all, short sighted, but he loved me after his fashion and he had taught me a lot both in what to do and what not to do. My mom seemed very nice and she seemed like she would be willing to let me chose things for myself—something Pop would never do. Plus, I'm always a sucker for learning a new technique or two.

She smiled. "I'll be honest with you, it is very fun. Your inner prankster will be bouncing around inside you wanting to get out and several of our _techniques_ are tailor made for pranking. The final thing to think about is a new name unless you want to keep using 'Ranko' for your girl side. Because of the prenuptial contract, it would be best to have some separation between your male and female identities in order to protect you from your father. You wouldn't want your magic binding you to a contract your father made for you—which it might if you remained 'Saotome Ranma' as a girl since he is the Saotome clan head. I can add you to the Kitsune register as my daughter."

Visions of multiple male fiancés for my girl half swam through my head. I was so not ready for that now, if ever. I absently nodded my head.

"Okay," she said. "That's enough of this. How about you tell me how you've been. I'm very interested in hearing about the training trip." She stood and led me back to the table.

* * *

It was after dark and I was up on the Tendo roof again. I was thinking about what Mom had said and whether I would take her up on her offer to help activate her clan's bloodline for my girl half. To be honest I was pretty used to the curse by now. Sure, there were things I didn't like about it: being short, having shorter reach, having a period, those things bouncing around on my chest when I ran—but I could deal with it. The lower strength and speed of my girl form were compensated for pretty well by ki reinforcement which I now automatically did. My shorter reach was compensated somewhat by greater flexibility. My fighting style was adaptable enough that I could compensate for that instinctively. The rest were just annoyances I could deal with. Most of the time I didn't even realize I had changed nowadays. My main problem with my curse was the social interaction. Even my friends treated me like a pervert because of it and I was never allowed to enjoy myself as a girl unless nobody knew who I was or I they thought I was scamming someone. Pop was the worst. He was constantly berating me for the curse—not that he didn't berate me before. He just focused on it as the obvious target.

Mom didn't pressure me like Pop did. It would be nice to spend more time with her. She would probably let me whether I took her up on it or not, but it would be nice to have something to do with her because I'm lousy at interacting with others thanks to Pop. The new _techniques_ sounded cool too. The shapeshifting and illusions would help with when I was stuck as a girl.

I absently let my mind drift as I looked at the lights of the city. I noticed some fireflies hovering around the fish pond in the yard. Huh, 'Hotaru' is a nice name and it's not that girly. I could handle that. It was much better than 'Ranko,' which had been a spur-of-the-moment kludge. I realized then that I had decided to do it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And that's the end of it. I actually liked this setup, but then I got to writing _The Shared Doom_ and cannibalized most of the things that made this story go. I had originally intended to, once Ranma got settled a little, transition into the Herb arc. Since _Mater Draconis_ will be mainly dealing with Herb, that took the last reason for me to work on this story away.


	8. A Mother's Love and Sacrifice Prologue

**Author's Note:** This story involves a concept that I kind of like, but haven't really seen: a Harry who vocally and frequently proclaims that it was his mother that defeated Voldemort rather than him. This start doesn't get that far, but that's the intention if I ever return to it. The first part of the prologue (the fire and the adoption by Hestia after a prayer by the mother) was influenced by a very short, incomplete Percy Jackson fanfic that I no longer remember the name of. The demigod and mortal characters of the Percy Jackson series don't appear in this since it is set before their time. It keeps to the Harry Potter time frame.

* * *

 **Summary:** Lily's divine heritage means that she doesn't die, exactly, during the encounter with Voldemort. However, she can no longer stay on the mortal plain either. She entrusts her daughter Mary to her Great-Aunt Hestia. Mary goes to Hogwarts with the intention of converting her fame to her birth mother's so that she does not fade. Fem!Harry.

* * *

Harry Potter and his friends was created by J.K. Rowling. Camp Half-Blood and its denizens were created or adapted by Rick Riordin. This is fan fiction intended for fun.

* * *

Lily Potter felt her mortality slip away from her courtesy of Voldemort's killing curse. Unknown to anyone other than her husband James and her parents, Hecate and Apollo, she was a mortal goddess. Or she had been.

She was the result of her parents looking for mortal lovers and being set up on a blind date by mutual acquaintances. Her parents had recognized each other, of course, but went through with their date and had briefly become lovers. Her mother had elected to carry her to term in the mortal world in order to escape Olympus's notice. Immediately upon birth, she had been wrapped in the mist that her mother controlled in order to give her a sheath of mortality so that she could grow up mortal. She had been given up for adoption and placed with the Evans family. Because Lily had a veneer of mortality on her, she appeared to be just a demigod, albeit a powerful one. However, she was not and never had been truly mortal. Now, that coating of mortality was being stripped away.

Lilly focused all of her love and magic that she could spare from fighting to remain in the mortal world on her daughter Mary and the rune on her forehead. While James had been distracting the so-called Dark Lord, she had traced a rune there with her blood to anchor the numerous protective spells she had cast.

" _Avada kedavra_ ," shrieked Voldemort. To Lily's mage sight, the foul man-thing was barely human. He was held together by magic more than by flesh.

A sickly green bolt of magic shot toward her daughter. . . and bounced off of her! The bolt's rebound struck Voldemort. The man-shaped monster exploded in a blast of foul magic. A dark silhouette was all that was left of him. The silhouette shrieked in agony and fled. However, it left a piece of itself behind. The soul fragment drifted around the room. Mary began to cry in response.

"No!" Lily exclaimed as the fragment approached her daughter. She used her last remaining bit of magic that was holding her divinity back to dissipate the soul fragment before it could latch on to her daughter.

She collapsed to the floor to catch her breath, unable to calm her daughter. She was being pulled somewhere—either Olympus or the Underworld. She thought it would be Olympus. She regretted that she would not be joining James in the Underworld. She had known since she had met her real mother for the first time when she was twelve that it was unlikely that she would die. At the time, James was the annoying son of Hermes that she had to share a portkey with to get to Camp Half Blood. It had taken her another four years to warm up to James and then an additional year to fall in love with him. Back then, she had not thought she would ever regret not dying. Later, she had thought she would at least get a lifetime with James and Mary before she had to leave. Now she would lose both James and Mary after much too short a time. As a goddess, she would not be allowed to see her daughter often, if ever, and as a very minor goddess the powers-that-be would not tolerate her bending or breaking the rules.

A different noise brought her out of her reminiscing. She looked up to see Peter standing in the doorway.

"Wormtail," she snarled. She had never liked or trusted Peter. However, James was nothing if not loyal to his friends and she had not been able to convince either he or Sirius not to make the scrawny man their Secret Keeper. She had let it go thinking that a demigod wizard and a more-than-demigod witch would be able to handle anything Voldemort threw at them, but they had been caught unprepared—away from their wands and their celestial bronze weapons only worked on Greek monsters.

Peter looked startled to see her alive. " _Accio_ ," he cried out. Voldemort's wand leapt into his hand and he fled. A moment later she heard his voice say, " _Incendio_!"

Flames sprang up around the room. She struggled to her knees and crawled toward her daughter's crib. Mary was sitting up, holding onto the bars of the crib, still screaming. Lily felt her grip on the mortal world slipping. She could only think of one being that could save her daughter from the fire.

"Great-aunt Hestia," she said, "please hear my prayer. Please save my daughter. You're the only one that can. I will give her to you, if you save her. Please, save her."

The strain of holding herself on the mortal plane became too much and Lily Potter disappeared in a shower of gold motes.

* * *

Hestia heard the prayer for help. The speaker addressed her as "Great-aunt Hestia" which meant it was probably a demigod, but the prayer felt unusual. It almost felt like the supplicant was another goddess, but not quite. She could not think of why a goddess would pray to her anyway. The prayer intrigued her enough to travel to the fire that was closest to the prayer's location.

The original supplicant was no longer present, there was a residue of a god leaving the mortal plane at the location. The residue matched that of the supplicant, but she did not recognize it, which was odd; she was among the oldest of the gods. She knew all of them. The recently departed goddess felt a little like her nephew Apollo and a little like Hecate.

The child mentioned in the prayer was wailing in a crib. It was a girl toddler of less than 18 months, but more than 12. The girl's crying was interrupted by bouts of an ugly cough. The heat from the fire was not yet enough to affect her, but the smoke was getting to her. The girl was a demigod and an unusual one at that. She had one of the strongest demigod "scents" to her that she had ever felt, but it was unfocused. Not even a child of one her brothers—the so-called "Big Three"—had a scent this strong. However, in reality one of her brother's children would be more powerful because their gifts would be more focused. The child smelt of the sun, moon, trickery, and magic—magic more than the others. Identifying a demigod's parents without them being claimed was possible, if not foolproof; it was just considered disrespectful to the parent. Most gods who ran into demigods did it—even if they did not voice their conclusions out loud.

The child was quieting now—succumbing to the smoke, which was now starting to be pleasantly warm to Hestia; it must be unbearable to the child. Hestia had always wanted a child—after all family was part of her domain, but politics and her brothers' jealousy had forced her to take an oath of chastity—and unlike most of her kin, she viewed her oaths seriously and kept them.

Even though Zeus ruled, she was the eldest. Even though she played the accommodating young girl most of the time, she sometimes resented the need to accommodate her youngest brother's paranoia. Zeus's excuse that the demigods needed a representative on the Council in order to give yet another of his offspring her seat rang hollow. Dionysus hated being reminded that he had once been mortal and was the most vicious and demanding of the gods to any demigod brought before them. She thought that the only reason that Demeter had not also been stripped of her seat was that she was entirely too focused on her hatred for Hades to give Zeus any trouble. Hera kept hers because Zeus needed her too much to support his rule to abandon her. He also needed Poseidon to counterbalance Hades.

Impulsively, she decided to grant the unknown goddess's supplication. She drew her dagger from her belt and pricked her finger. She squeezed a drop of golden ichor from her finger and used it to draw a theta and an epsilon on the girl's forehead—one on each side of the fresh lightning-bolt scar. The theta stood for θυγάτηρ—daughter—and the epsilon for Ἑστία—her own name and the word for hearth. She infused her divine power into the letters making the girl her own. The girl's dark hair lightened into a fiery red. She stopped after just over a third of the girl's heritage had been replaced by her own. She did not dare completely replace her birth parents; to do so would be to risk both of them being thrown into Tartarus by her youngest brother. He would be angry enough that she had circumvented her oath of chastity to gain a daughter—never mind that his own daughter Athena routinely got around hers.

The girl's—her daughter's!—breathing steadied and returned to normal. As a child of the hearth, neither flame nor smoke would ever harm her again. To seal the adoption, Hestia aged her form to that of a young woman and made herself lactate. She altered her dress so that she could easily nurse the girl and began to do so.

An old man with a long, white beard and truly garish robes appeared with a loud crack. He was one of Hecate's people. He looked surprised to see her and that the house was on fire.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why is the house on fire? What are you doing with Rosemary?"

She ignored him and traveled via the fire to a home she kept in Kansas that always had a fire burning in its fireplace. Before anything she needed to talk to Hecate. She was sure she was involved somehow.

Nursing a baby, especially one as old as her daughter, whose name was apparently Rosemary, was strange, but satisfying. She wondered if the child's birth mother had still been nursing her.

When she was finished, the child sat up and asked plaintively, "Mama?"

"I'm your new mama, Rosemary," she told the child. "Your other mama asked me to look after you. Why don't you take a nap? You've had a hard day."

Hestia exerted a little bit of divine power to make the child fall asleep and placed her on the couch. Now it was time to get answers.

She said, "Hecate, I would like to speak with you."

After a few minutes wait Hecate shimmered into view.

The newcomer glanced sadly at the little girl sleeping on the couch. "Thank you for answering my daughter's prayer, Hestia," she said.

"Then this. . ."

"Yes," Hecate said, "this is my granddaughter, Rosemary Euphemia Potter. Everyone calls her Mary. Her mother, my daughter Lily, is the newly-ascended Goddess of Spell Crafting and Motherly Sacrifice and her husband James Potter, the newly-deceased demigod son of Hermes."

"Newly ascended?" Hestia asked. It had been a long time since any new gods were made.

"She is my daughter by Apollo, but was born in the mortal world and sheathed in the mist to make her equivalent to a strong demigod. Moments ago, her divinity asserted itself when she ran into something that would have killed her if she had been truly mortal."

"I remember a Lily Evans from Camp," Hestia mused. "She was claimed by Apollo, but not you—although I remember her talents were more varied than most children of Apollo." She also remembered James Potter. He had been a pretty typical son of Hermes.

"Apollo and I decided that only he would claim her at camp in order to allow her to grow up without undue expectations," Hecate explained. "We decided that Apollo would be the one to claim her since a certain son of Hermes had made a poor impression on her and she didn't want to share a cabin with him." She ended with a broad smile.

Hestia giggled. "Did she come to regret that decision?"

"I don't think so," Hecate said. "She claimed even after they were married that James had needed the time to grow up and being further removed from his affections when they were younger had been a blessing."

Hestia looked at her daughter. "So, she's a demigod whose parents were married? Hera will be pleased."

The other goddess frowned. "Hopefully that won't become known to Olympus for a while."

Hestia arched an eyebrow in question.

"You more than most know not to present your brother with any targets," Hecate said. "Apollo is currently arguing with his father to protect his daughter. We don't need to give him someone else to protect."

"My brother is more forgiving of his descendants than of others," Hestia said.

"That's true," Hecate said bitterly, "but she's also the granddaughter of a former titan and now the eldest child of his father's eldest child. As his great-granddaughter, even twice over, she's too far removed to get any special treatment."

"I will claim her when she goes to camp," Hestia stated.

"Can Lily come and visit when she's able?" Hecate asked.

A wave of jealousy encompassed Hestia, and she briefly regretted not purging her new daughter of her old heritage. The moment passed and she said, "She can come and visit as long as she remembers that she gave her to me."

Hecate nodded. "Lily's divinity is not yet stable as she has very few that respect her and her ideals. I fear she's in danger of fading. She won't be able to visit much." She paused. "What are your plans? What will you do with Mary when you are needed on Olympus or elsewhere?"

Hestia frowned. She had not thought through that yet.

"May I make a suggestion?" Hecate asked.

Hestia nodded.

"James and his family come from a long line of wealthy wizards and witches. His mother and step-slash-adoptive father actually petitioned Hermes for help in conceiving James because Fleamont Potter was sterile due to a curse he was afflicted with while fighting in the wizard counterpart to World War II. Because of this, Fleamont magically adopted James, Mary is the Potter heiress now that her parents and grandparents are dead. Potter Manor, where James's parents lived until they succumbed to dragon pox recently, is staffed by a house-elf that can help you and take care of Holly when you are needed elsewhere."

"House-elf?" Hestia asked.

"A brownie bound to a magical household," Hecate said. "They have a symbiotic relationship with magicals since they need magic to live, but can't supply their own."

"Can we meet it?" Hestia asked.

Hecate nodded and called, "Whimsy!" Hestia could feel Hecate project her intention back toward Britain.

A wrinkled little creature with large ears wearing a what appeared to be a large, elegantly-embroidered napkin appeared with a pop. "What can Whimsy do for the mother of Mistress Lily?"

The house-elf spotted Mary on the couch and squealed, "Mistress Mary!"

Hecate said, "I regret to inform you that Voldemort. . ."

Whimsy shivered and squealed in fright.

". . . attacked my daughter's home this evening. Both Lily and James have left mortality. Mary was saved through her mother's sacrifice. This is Lady Hestia, Lily's father's aunt. It was Lily's last mortal wish that Lady Hestia take Mary as her own. Lady Hestia performed a powerful adoption ritual in order to do so. Will you take Lady Hestia and Mary to Potter Manor and provide aid in looking after Mary?"

"Whimsy would be honored to help Lady Hestia look after Mistress Mary!" the house-elf exclaimed.

"Very well," Hestia said. "Can you take us to Potter Manor, Hecate?"

Hecate nodded and Hestia picked up Mary. Hecate gently rested her hand on Hestia's upper arm. Hestia nodded and Hecate teleported them back to Britain.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This is actually a story that I might come back to. I like the concept; I've just got too many stories in my queue to continue this right now once I got the plot worm out.


	9. The Seven Daughters of Harry Pottter 1

**Author's Note:** I've read other fics where the son or daughter of the protagonist comes back in time to change things. Well, if something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing, right?

* * *

 **Summary:** On his fourteenth birthday, Harry finds the Dursley home invaded by seven different green-eyed girls his age all claiming that their name is Lily Potter and that he is their father. Time-travel.

* * *

Harry Potter and his friends was created by J.K. Rowling. This is fan fiction intended for fun.

* * *

Harry Potter woke up the morning of his fourteenth birthday to the sound of young, feminine voices arguing. He couldn't quite tell how many there were because they all sounded similar. He was tired because he had stayed up until midnight the previous night to celebrate his birthday as had become traditional for him since Hagrid had appeared at midnight on his eleventh. He was irritated at being woken up, but at least it wasn't his aunt or uncle yelling at him to make them breakfast.

Dressing quickly and running a hand through his hair to try and tame it somewhat, Harry left what he still thought of as Dudley's Second Bedroom to see what was going on. He wished he had his wand, but as was usual, Uncle Vernon had confiscated all his school things and locked them in the cupboard under the stairs.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, he could see several girls his age standing in a circle arguing about their fathers. From his vantage point, he couldn't tell how many there were. At least one of them was wearing robes, which again made him wish for his wand. The ones facing him quieted as they saw him, which caused the others to follow suit. Deciding to get the confrontation over with, he descended the stairs.

There were seven girls his age in the parlor staring at him intently. Most of them were smiling at him and they all seemed friendly. They all looked like they could be cousins, or maybe even sisters if they weren't all the same age. He supposed they _could_ be septuplets, but he doubted it—even if it weren't for the one with noticeably darker skin. Then he noticed their eyes—all of them had the same striking green eyes that he had inherited from his mother. They mostly had the same shape of faces, but not exactly. Three of them were redheads, three of them had dark hair, and one of them had very pale blond hair. They mostly had the same figures, but the blonde was a little taller and more mature and one of the redheads also had a very impressive bust for her age. Three of the girls were dressed in robes—two of the dark-haired ones, including the darker-skinned one, and one of the redheads—the others were in muggle clothes, mostly nice jeans and blouses. The redhead in robes wore weird accessories: radish earrings and a necklace made of corks. She reminded him of a younger girl he had seen at Hogwarts once or twice. He noticed that the Dursleys were all tied up and sitting on a couch behind the girls.

"Who are you people?" he demanded.

"I'm Lily Potter," they all answered in near unison and then glared at each other.

Harry felt faint when confronted with what appeared to be seven different teenaged versions of his mother. Then it occurred to him that a teenaged version of his mother would introduce herself as Lily Evans and only one of them, even considering the three redheads looked like pictures he'd seen of her. Finally, he settled on repeating them, "Lily Potter?"

"Hi, Daddy!" six of them exclaimed with the blonde saying "Papa" instead.

This time he couldn't stop himself from fainting.

* * *

When he came to, one of the dark-haired girls was kneeling next to him, smiling at him. She had curly brown hair done up in a nice-looking ponytail. For some reason she reminded him of Hermione.

"Hello again, Harry," she said. "I can see that we overwhelmed you. Sorry about that."

He adjusted his glasses, but said nothing as he was still trying to come to grips with their claim to be his daughters.

"I've been selected as spokeswoman for now," she continued. "I've been told I'm a lot like my mother, so it was felt I would be familiar to you."

"Your mother?" he questioned her.

She nodded. "The former Hermione Granger."

"Time travel?" he asked. He was familiar with time travel, having been introduced to a limited version of it by Hermione. She had used something called a Time Turner to travel back several hours to take classes that were double-booked. They had also used it to save his godfather from being executed. However, he didn't know of anything that could work on for the nearly twenty years it would need, at minimum, for him to encounter his fourteen-year-old daughter—not that he knew a whole lot about what was possible using magic.

Her smile widened and she nodded.

"We all came back to help you," she said. "We're all your daughters even if we all have different mothers."

He almost fainted again. "I have seven wives?" he asked weakly.

She rolled her eyes. "No, silly. If we all came from the same timeline, would we all have the same name?"

"Different timelines?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said. "We haven't had a lot of time to talk, but it appears that in each of our timelines, or parallel worlds, a third blood purity conflict breaks out and our father, you, is one of the first casualties. We all decided to come back to save you."

"But why now?" he asked.

"Various reasons," she answered. "However, it all boils down to two main ones: we need to deal with the blood purity issues sooner than later and we all have people we want to save. Some are family members. Others are regrets that our father had. One of the biggest regrets that our father had was a death that happened near the end of this next school year."

"It's especially important to me," the redhead with the developed figure said. "He was someone my mother looked up to as well."

"How about we go around and introduce ourselves," the brunette said. "I'll start:

"My name is Lily Rose Potter. I was born on December 20, 2006 to Harry James Potter and the former Hermione Jean Granger. Like I said before, people say I take after my mother. I have an older brother named James Sirius Potter. I attend Hogwarts and have just completed my third year as a Gryffindor. One of my goals is to stop my mother from erasing my grandparents memories and sending them to Australia."

Harry stared at her. Why would Hermione erase her parents memories?

He started as the next girl started to talk. It was the redhead that reminded him a little of pictures of his mother. "My name is Lily Luna Potter. I'm named after my godmother in addition to your mother." She smiled at the redhead with the weird fashion sense. "I was born on March 9, 2008 to Harry James Potter and the former Ginevra Molly Weasley. People also say I take after my mother." She fingered her red hair. "I have two older brothers: James Sirius and Albus Severus."

Harry goggled at her. Why would he name a son after Snape? He noticed that about half the girls were staring at her too; the other half, including Lily Luna, just seemed amused.

"I'm also going into my fourth year in Gryffindor. One of my goals is to save my Uncle Fred from dying in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Harry was sad to hear that Fred had died.

The darker-skinned girl began to speak. He could hear a slight accent to her speech that reminded him of Parvati Patil. "I'm Luna Lavender. I was also name after my godmother. I was born on September 2, 2005 to Harry James Potter and Padma Patil. I have a younger brother named James Sirius. I will also be a fourth year Gryffindor. One of the things I want to do is to stop the death of my Aunt Parvati in the Battle of Hogwarts."

That was the second mention of a Battle of Hogwarts. Harry couldn't imagine a full-scale battle happening there. Why hadn't Dumbledore stopped it?

"Is that how you got named after your aunt's best friend?" he asked. "I don't recall Lavender interacting much with Parvati's sister."

She nodded. "Mum and Auntie Lav became close comforting each other after the Battle. People say I act like either a more studious version of my aunt or a more adventurous version of my mother."

"I'm Lily Amelia," one of the two remaining redheads, the one with the developed figure, said cheerfully. "I'm the daughter of Harry James Potter and the former Susan Amelia Bones. My mum and I were both named after my great aunt Amelia Bones. My birthdate is July 11, 2006." She frowned. "Unfortunately, I'm an only child." She shrugged and continued cheerfully, "I'm in Hufflepuff like my mom. I'll also be a fourth year. In addition to stopping the murder of my mother's friend this next year, I want to stop the murder of my great aunt."

The last of the dark-haired girls went next. "I'm Lily Agatha, named after both my grandmothers. My mother is the former Daphne Regina Greengrass."

The name sounded familiar to Harry. It came to him that she was in some of his classes, but was in Slytherin. He raised an eyebrow.

She smirked at him. "Yes, Daddy. In my timeline you married a Slytherin, although you didn't interact much in school, if at all. I'm also in Slytherin—a fourth year like the others. People actually say I act like a calmer, more restrained version of you."

A guilty look flickered over his face. He still hadn't told his friends that the Sorting Hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin.

She continued, "I was born on February 29, 2008. And before you ask, I do celebrate my birthday in non-leap years on March 1st. I have an older brother also named James Sirius and a younger sister named Helen Minerva. One of my goals is to lessen the hold that blood purity and Death Eater sympathy have on Slytherin House." She paused. "I also want to make Uncle Draco less of a berk."

" _Uncle Draco?!_ " Harry spluttered.

Lily Agatha smirked at him. "Yes, he married Aunt Astoria—Mum's younger sister. He's still a little full of himself, but he's not as bad as the stories say he was while Daddy was growing up."

"He didn't marry Pansy?" Harry asked. "They seem perfect for each other."

Lily Agatha snorted. "Parkinson? She wishes."

Lily Luna nodded. "Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass married in my timeline too. Albus is friends with their son. He and Daddy don't really like each other still, but they behave for Albus and Scorpio's sake—mostly."

Harry was stunned. He didn't think he and Draco could ever be civil to one another, much less allow their sons to be friends.

"My name is Lily Pearl," the oddly-dressed redhead said, pulling him away from his musing. "My mother was Luna Selene Lovegood before she married Daddy. I was born on June 21, 2005. Like the others, I'll be starting my fourth year. I'm in Ravenclaw like Mummy. I have two younger brothers, Lysander James and Sirius Lorcan."

All six of the other girls stared at her.

"No James Sirius?" asked Lily Rose.

Lily Pearl smiled. "Daddy wanted to name Lysander that, but that would have made Sirius's name Lysander Lorcan and Mummy thought that would be silly."

The other girls all rolled their eyes. It seemed that they were all familiar with the way Lily Pearl's mother thought, which was a little odd to him since he had yet to meet her.

"One of my goals is to stop Marietta Edgecombe and her friends from stealing Mummy's things." She looked like she might add something, but decided not to.

Lily Luna rushed over and gave her a hug.

The last of the girls, the one with the pale blond hair spoke, "My name is Lily Apolline." She had a faint French accent. "My mama was born Gabrielle Diane Delacour and I am named after my grandmothers." She smiled at Harry. "I was born on July 31, 2008. I will be a fourth year in Ravenclaw as well. I have a little sister named Jasmine Hermione."

Lily Rose laughed. "Mum admitted to me that she gave me two names that nobody could misspell partly because very few of her teachers growing up could read her name correctly off of the rolls."

Lily Apolline smirked. "Aunt Hermione tried to protest Jasmine's middle name, but Daddy insisted and said that since it was a middle name hardly anyone would need to know how to spell it or say it." She hesitated. "I'm a Veela like my mother and her mothers."

"What's a Veela?" Harry asked.

"We're witches with a special gift that is passed down from mother to daughter," the blonde said. "We have an affinity to fire magic, have an allure that makes us attractive to men, and can transform into an avian form." She scowled. "Current British magical law considers us non-human, so please don't spread it around."

Harry nodded. It sounded like how they treated werewolves, which he'd always thought unfair.

"My main goal," Lily Apolline continued, "is to make sure that Uncle Bill survives. He dies in the Battle of Hogwarts in my timeline before my cousin Victoire is even born. I don't want my cousin to grow up without her papa."

Harry again wondered at the reference to the Battle of Hogwarts. He also wondered who her Uncle Bill was. He knew that his friend Ron Weasley had a brother named Bill, but he hadn't met him yet since he lived in Egypt.

All of the girls were looking at him waiting for him to say something. He really was at a loss for what to say—what could a fourteen-year-old boy say when presented with seven girls his own age, all claiming to be his time-traveling daughters, each with a different mother? He latched onto a fact just to have something to break the silence. "You're all fourteen, but born in different years?"

They all nodded.

"I left my timeline on July 31, 2021 and traveled back 27 years," said Lily Rose.

"July 31, 2022 and 28 years," said Lily Luna.

"July 31, 2022 and 28 years also," said Lily Agatha.

"July 31, 2020 and 26 years," said Lily Lavender.

"July 31, 2019 and 25 years," said Lily Pearl.

"July 31, 2020 and 26 years," said Lily Amelia.

"July 31, 2022 and 28 years," said Lily Apolline.

"Hah, I'm the oldest!" said Lily Lavender.

Lily Pearl pouted. "No fair. I was born first."

Harry looked at them, confused.

"We all traveled on the July 31st after we turned 14," Lily Lavender explained. "Since my birthday is in September, that means I'm the oldest even though Pearl was born the earliest in our native timelines."

"That means you're all older than me!" Harry exclaimed.

Six of them smirked at him—only Lily Apolline didn't. It was disturbingly like seeing a female version of his face in a mirror. The blonde smiled at him, amusedly.

"Not me, Papa," she said. "My time of birth was in the late afternoon of our shared birthday while yours was less than an hour after midnight."

He smiled back at her. At least one of his daughters wasn't older than him!

He had another thought. "If you all left your timelines in different years, why are you all the same age?" he asked.

The girls all looked at each other. Finally, Lily Rose asked, "Was Mum Minister in your timelines?"

They all nodded.

"For how long?" she asked.

"Two years," replied Lily Agatha and Lily Lavender. The other four girls all nodded in agreement.

"Same with me," responded Lily Rose. "It appears that the muggleborn Hermione Granger becoming Minister of Magic sparked a pureblood uprising in each of our timelines. For whatever reason that happened when each of us were twelve. I suspect that we aren't the only ones sent back in time from the different possible timelines, but for some reason we're the only ones that arrived back in this particular timeline."

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"That is what I would like to know too," a familiar voice asked.

Albus Dumbledore faded into view—letting go of a disillusionment charm, Harry supposed. All seven girls glared at him. Lily Agatha and Lily Apolline looked angry, while Lily Rose and Lily Luna looked exasperated. The other three had expressions in between.

"We are taking our father and leaving this horrid place," Lily Apolline firmly.

"The Blood Wards…" began Dumbledore.

"Are worse than useless," interrupted Lily Agatha.

"Young lady," Dumbledore began again.

"Do your vaunted Blood Wards protect him anywhere other than No. 4 Privet Drive?" Lily Agatha interrupted again to ask.

"Well…" Dumbledore prevaricated.

"We know the answer is 'no,' Mr. Dumbledore," Lily Apoline answered for him. "Papa has been attacked by Death Eaters in your school, which is supposedly the safest place in Britain and only once did his Blood Protection save him and Aunt Hermione was not convinced that that protection was due to your Blood Wards rather than Papa's scar."

Harry rubbed his scar. "My scar?" He was confused. Why would the scar Voldemort had given him protect him.

"Since the Killing Curse doesn't leave a mark," Lily Rose explained, "your scar had to come from somewhere else. Mum was convinced that Grandma is responsible for the scar and that it originated as a rune anchor to the protection she gave you." She grimaced. "Unfortunately, it's also the site of the war going on inside you between Grandma's protection and residual magic left over from Riddle. That's why your scar hurts when you encounter him and why you have a 'connection' to him."

"Regardless," Lily Agatha continued, "we know that there are other places that are as safe for him as here where he doesn't have to deal with those wastes of space." She pointed to the still-bound Dursleys.

"The Blood Wards also protect his Aunt's family," Dumbledore protested.

Harry exploded. "You mean I have to come here just so they're protected!" He glared at the old man.

"Harry," Dumbledore chided. "I know they aren't the most loving of people, but they're still your family."

"Those child abusers are _not_ any family of ours," yelled Lily Amelia.

"Young lady," Dumbledore scolded, "just because they were not kind to young Harry, does not make them abusers."

"That's actually false, Mr. Dumbledore," stated Lily Lavender. "Numerous studies have been published that show that neglecting a child is one of the more insidious forms of abuse. That does not even include the times that they starved, beat, or encouraged their son to beat Daddy. Even in the 1990s its likely that the Dursleys would be arrested for child abuse and both Harry and Dudley taken from them if the local government was doing its job."

"Regardless," Dumbledore said, "even if they are not the best of people, I'm sure Harry would not want them tortured and killed by Death Eaters."

"There are ways for them to avoid the Death Eaters that do not involve Papa," stated Lily Apolline. "Simply moving for one. The only reason that Death Eaters could know who they are is if the Ministry leaks Papa's address. If you separate them from Harry, they are just another muggle family."

Harry stared at her incredulously. "That's it? That's all it would take for me to be shot of them?"

"They are still your legal guardians, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Why are you protecting them?" Harry demanded. "They are _evil_ people. Why should they get to pretend to be normal while Sirius has to hide and I'm locked in Dudley's Second Bedroom without anything to eat!?"

Dumbledore sighed. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Harry, family fights. Sometimes for reasons that seem good, sometimes for reasons that do not. However, once they're gone you'll wish they had not. Maybe not right away, but eventually."

Harry was doubtful.

"You should not project your own insecurities and regrets onto Daddy, Mr. Dumbledore," Lily Pearl said. "It's his choice. It's possible, even if unlikely, he'll change his mind later. If he does, then he can get into contact with them again later. However, forcing them to live together when they don't like each other will only make things worse between them."

"Harry and you young ladies yourselves are young," Dumbledore said. "It's up to those of us who have already made our mistakes to guide and direct you."

"So you admit that you can only guide and direct Daddy?" Lily Agatha demanded. "You have no legal authority to force him to stay here."

"Where else would he stay?" Dumbledore asked.

"We can stay with Sirius," Lily Luna said. "I'm sure he would love to have us. Our grandparents would also love to have us, although I don't know that many of them could accommodate all of us for very long."

"Sirius is a fugitive still…" Dumbledore said.

"And why is that, Mr. Chief Warlock?" Lily Agatha demanded. "Surely you can arrange the trial that he never got."

Dumbledore sighed again. "The office of Chief Warlock is largely a figurehead role. While I preside over the Wizengamot, the Minister's office controls the agenda…"

"You also wield more personal influence than even the Minister, Mr. Dumbledore," said Lily Apolline.

"I'm reluctant to throw my weight around the ministry lest I become no better than Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore stated.

"Didn't you tell me that once that it's important to do what is right rather than what is easy, sir?" Harry asked. "It isn't right that Sirius has a Kiss on Sight Order when he's never stood trial. That's against the Magna Carta and it's older than the Statute of Secrecy. Isn't that still on the books?"

"You have the ability to do so much more good than you do, Mr. Dumbledore," Lily Pearl said.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something, but decided to close it again. He sighed a third time and said, "Very well. You've convinced me. I'll begin working more overtly towards Mr. Black being given a trial."

"Aunt Amy will help, once you explain things," Lily Amelia added.

Dumbledore nodded. "However, as far as I know, Mr. Black is not in the country. Where will you stay in the meantime?"

"Surely you can put us up at Hogwarts—at least temporarily," Lily Lavender said.

"And how will I explain all of you?" Dumbledore asked. "I can hardly state that you're all the time traveling daughters of Mr. Potter."

"Yes, you can," they all stated at once. Then they glanced at each other and giggled.

He raised an eyebrow. "The only justification for time travelers to meddle with the time stream permitted by international treaty is to prevent a wide-scale unraveling of the International Statute of Secrecy."

Lily Rose nodded. "I have hear a copy of my authorization to time travel signed by the Minister of Magic of 2021 complete with a tamperproof seal." She looked at her sisters/analogs and they all nodded. "My sisters have similar documents."

Dumbledore took the offered document. "H. Potter?" he asked after looking it over, glancing at Harry.

Harry looked at the document, momentarily forgetting that they had said Hermione was the minister. A glance at the signature showed him that it was Hermione's handwriting, if not her current signature.

"Weren't you here when we mentioned that Mum was the Minister?" Lily Rose asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "Just confirming it. Most people will assume this is Harry."

"Not if they've ever seen me write," Harry said sheepishly.

"Mine is signed 'H. Weasley,'" Lilly Luna said.

"Mine too," said Lily Pearl and Lily Lavender.

"Your Hermiones all married Ron?" Harry asked.

"Yes," said Lily Luna.

"No," said Lily Lavender. "Mine married Fred."

That shocked Harry a little. Rule-worshipping Hermione married one of the prankster twins?

"Mine married Percy," said Lily Pearl.

Harry shook his head. While that made a little more sense than Hermione marrying Fred, he couldn't see that match either.

"People change as they grow up, Daddy," Lily Pearl said.

"Mine says 'H. Longbottom' because Aunt Hermione married Uncle Neville," said Lily Amelia.

Harry looked at the two remaining.

"Aunt Hermione never married in my timeline," said Lily Agatha. "Daddy had her adopted into the House of Potter as his sister in order to help with her political aspirations, so my document also says 'H. Potter.'"

"The same happened in my timeline, Papa," Lily Apolline said.

Harry shook his head in wonder. Hermione was always proud of her family and heritage. He was surprised that she would abandon it like that. She had even heard her rant on one occasion about how she was planning on hyphenating her last name with her husband's because her family was just as good as any other. She was also proud and prickly about her given name despite professing it to be a hardship for a child to answer to.

"I'm surprised she did that," he commented. "I'm also surprised she abbreviated her first name."

"I once heard Daddy say the same to her about her given name," Lily Rose commented. "She demanded that he try and sign a name as long as 'Hermione' dozens of times a day."

"I can fully sympathize with your mother," Dumbledore stated, his eyes twinkling.

They all laughed.

"Very well," he said. "I will house the eight of you at Hogwarts, temporarily."

Harry asked for help getting his school things out of the cupboard.

"What should we do with these?" asked Lily Amelia, pointing to the Dursleys.

"Leave them," Harry said. "They heard what's happening."

Dumbledore sighed. "Wait in the kitchen for a moment while I make arrangements for their safety with them.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** The timeline that Lily Luna comes from is pretty much Epilogue compliant. The other six timelines obviously aren't to some degree or other. I haven't plotted them all out completely, but there are also changes in most of them back to _at least_ the Battle of Hogwarts. _The Cursed Child_ does not happen in any of the seven timelines, although I may have used some background info revealed in it. I'm not going to lay odds on continuing this story, but I will admit it's not high on my priority list.


	10. Jedification Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** For some time I've had a story worm where Leet experiments on people to give them powers from MMORPGs, but video game abilities don't really fit into the super hero genre (for the most part) unless you do something like _The Gamer_ , which I wasn't willing to do. However, I felt like doing the Jedi thing would work, hence this mashup.

* * *

 **Summary:** Taylor is kidnapped by a Leet driven insane by Uber's death and used as an unwilling guinea pig in his Jedifier.

* * *

Taylor and her friends were created by Wildblow. Jedi were created by George Lucas. _World of Warcraft_ and its setting were created by people working for Blizzard Entertainment. This is fan fiction intended for fun.

* * *

A door opening and closing woke me up. I heard someone moving around and muttering to themselves. The events of the last day came rushing back to me. Not that I wanted them to. The last day had been awful. Yesterday had started out normal enough—not that that was good. For the last year plus, awful was the norm.

My back-stabbing ex-best-friend had been making high school miserable for me along with her new best friend and her tag-along. Emma moving on and getting a new best friend would have hurt, but I like to think I would have gotten over it. However, I just couldn't understand why she had decided to be so vicious about it and why she and her gang still went out of their way to torment me over a year later. We had been sisters in all but blood!

In hindsight, it had been extremely foolish of me to bring Mom's flute to school, but I needed the comfort that the reminder of the last person to really care about my well-being could bring. Emma had betrayed me and Dad was distant since Mom's death. They had been destroying my clothes, school supplies, and homework ever since they had realized that the teachers wouldn't stop them or punish them, which had been fairly early in Freshman year. Mom had treated Emma like a favorite niece or second daughter. I hadn't truly believed that she would steal her flute—no matter what she now thought of me. Looking back, I should have realized that there wasn't any depth to which those monsters wouldn't sink. After letting me stew all throughout school, Emma had sent me on a "scavenger hunt" to recover the flute. I hadn't had any hope that they would allow me to recover it—at least not whole and in one piece—but I had had to try anyway.

The "scavenger hunt" had me digging thorough garbage cans and dumpsters in worse and worse neighborhoods until I was in a mostly-abandoned industrial area near the docks. At first Emma and her cronies had been nearby to laugh at me, but by the end of the "hunt" I had been alone, scared, and empty-handed. Emma's new best friend, Sophia, had shown up while I was fruitlessly digging through the dumpster where the last clue had led me in order to taunt me about how stupid I was to believe that they would let someone as worthless as me win anything. She had left with the news that homeless people had disappeared in this area over the last week, but that I would be okay because even someone who kidnapped homeless people would not want me. She had been wrong.

I hadn't been able to muster the strength to go home and face Dad knowing that I had lost Mom's flute. Instead I had sat next to the dumpster and cried. A sound near the mouth of the alley had made me look up. Instead of the expected Sophia or Emma, the noise had been caused by a masked man in a costume. He had pointed a tinkertech-looking gun at me. The last thing I remembered was a flash of light.

I assumed that the person I heard opening the door was the man who had shot me last night. However, I couldn't see him due to the piles of boxes and strange-looking devices between me and the door. I was sore from sleeping awkwardly last night, but I tried to get up anyway. Maybe I could find something to help me escape. Unfortunately, I quickly realized that I was tethered to the wall by a knot-less noose around my ankle which was made out of a plastic-like material. I tried to slip out of it or stretch it, but it was tougher than it looked.

The evidence pointed to me being kidnapped by a tinker. Brokton Bay contained four tinkers that I knew of: Squealer of the Merchants, Leet of Uber and Leet, Armsmaster of the Protectorate, and Kid Win of the Wards. Thankfully, I could rule out the worst option. Squealer was a woman. Unfortunately, I could also rule out the best options; being heroes, Armsmaster and Kid Win would not kidnap someone—and if they did detain someone, it would not be in a junk-filled warehouse.

The grapevine at school had been buzzing for the last week and a half with the news that Oni Lee of the Azn Bad Boys had killed Uber. Leet had survived, but had not been seen in public since. Even their internet channel had been silent. The consensus had been that Leet had fled town rather than get killed by the ABB too. That rumor was apparently false.

As far as villain kidnapping go, getting captured by Leet would have been a best-case scenario. The most violent thing that Uber and Leet had done was to beat up a couple of prostitutes while reenacting a video game called _Grand Theft Auto_. There had evidently been some backlash on their internet channel due to that and they had backed off since then. With Uber dead and Leet going against his standard _modus operandi_ , I wasn't sure what would happen to me. I sincerely hoped that he wasn't going to use me as a guinea pig. Leet's tech had a reputation of failing violently—that and their insistence on using video game themes were the reason why everyone considered them chumps.

Whoever was in the room with me was now close enough for me to hear his mumblings, even though I still couldn't see him.

"…need to do something cool, Uber," he mumbled. "Got to show that Uber and Leet still got it.

"Yeah, Jedi are cool, but they don't really go with our theme… I know there are _Star Wars_ video games, Uber, but doing a show about a tie-in game would be selling out."

The _Star Wars_ films had come out when my parents were kids. They were some of Dad's favorite movies. I'd heard that they had made prequels on Earth Aleph, but only the first of them made it to the theaters on Earth Bet—the other two went straight to video. They were not good enough in most people's opinion to overcome the fact that they showed the main character's decent into villainy. That hit a little too close to home for most people on Bet. We had too many iconic villains to celebrate a fictional one. As cool as Darth Vader had been in 1977, he just wasn't as intimidating as Jack Slash or Lung.

"We decided not to use the Jedifier, Uber," Leet continued. "We didn't want to get a reputation for bio-tinkering… You're right, Uber. We have nothing else to lose."

My blood ran cold. I _did not_ want to be some tinker's guinea pig—and especially not Leet's!

"A plain Jedi just won't do it… Not attention-getting enough," my captor said, arguing with his dead partner. I assumed he was just talking to himself, but with tinkers you couldn't say for sure. "A twi'lek? Maybe. There's that hot blue one in _Attack of the Clones_ … A crossover? I don't know… We've always avoided them in the past. _Warcraft_? We _have_ been trying to get them to license _World of Warcraft_ to someone on Bet so that we could check it out… Yeah. I can't believe they've been denying our petitions either…"

I assumed that _World of Warcraft_ was a video game developed on Earth Aleph. I'm not sure why it had never been licensed here. Maybe not enough interest. Earth Aleph's entertainment industry was much more developed than Earth Bet's. Since data was the only exchange between the two dimensions, we mostly traded real-life footage of cape fights for movies and other fiction. One of Uber and Leet's stated goals had been to generate enough interest to get more video games imported from Aleph.

Leet, if that's who it was, drifted away from me so that I couldn't hear him anymore. I settled down to see if I could get my bonds free.

* * *

The two days following my awakening in the warehouse had been both stressful and boring. I had had nothing to do except sit in my corner and try and free myself. Nothing had worked. The tether was both too snug and too tough for me to break it or slip it off my ankle. And even if I were desperate to cut my foot off to free myself, I had nothing with which to do so.

The only thing I had to do was think about what was going to happen to me—probably die as a result of being a guinea pig for an incompetent tinker. I thought about how much I hated Emma, Sophia, and their cronies for hurting me and luring me to a spot where I would get caught. I hated Leet for kidnapping me and thinking I would make a good guinea pig. I hated Dad for not paying enough attention to me and for not realizing how much help I needed. I hated Mom for dying and leaving me all alone. But most of all, I hated myself for allowing myself to be bullied by my antagonists, for not being good enough for Emma anymore, and for being caught by the most incompetent villain in Brockton Bay.

I had finally seen my captor when he had brought me some food: pepperoni pizza, Doritos, and Dr. Pepper—which he had done twice a day. I had pleaded with him to let me go, but he ignored me in favor of mumbling to himself.

On the morning of the third day of my captivity, Leet approached me again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Taylor. Taylor Hebert," I responded. I had nothing to gain from keeping my name a secret. "Please let me go. I'll do anything."

"I'm Leet," he said. "I need a new partner."

"Me?" I squeaked. "I'm not a cape. I'm not even an athlete."

"That's what my invention is for," he said. "I modified my Jedifier to make _Warcraft_ characters. This has two benefits. It will make you as strong as a cape and show everyone how cool _World of Warcraft_ would be."

"Please, no," I begged. "I don't want to be a guinea pig."

"Don't worry. I can build anything successful once," he said. "You'll be fine and you'll thank me later."

He pointed the tinkertech gun at me again and then pulled the trigger. I lost consciousness again.

* * *

I awoke suspended in a thick, clear liquid. I was wearing a breathing mask and I could see a tube of some sort traveling upward toward the top of the cylindrical tank I was in. I felt both numb and sluggish. I tried to move around, but found it difficult. I managed to contort myself and found that I was wearing only a sports bra and some cycling shorts. I felt violated to know that Leet had changed my clothes, but realized that was probably nothing compared to him using me as a guinea pig.

I think I drifted in and out of sleep as I was suspended there in the liquid. I had no idea how long I hung there. At times my body tingled and I felt pins and needles all over me. At times it was general over my whole body and at other times it was concentrated on specific parts. Luckily, the numbness prevailed and I didn't hurt that much—at most I could say that I ached.

Over time I noticed a blue cast to my skin. I wasn't sure if it was really there or if it was due to the liquid I was in. I remembered that he had mentioned a blue twi'lek. I tried to remember what a twi'lek was, but I couldn't think of what it was. It had been a long time since I had seen _Star Wars_ and I didn't think I had ever seen _Attack of the Clones_ , which was presumably one of the prequels.

The tingling in my tailbone also worried me since it felt like there was more to my spine than there should be. I tried to look and see, but wasn't able to twist enough to see my rear. I did notice that I seemed to be bulking up and developing some muscle tone on my arms. I wasn't wearing my glasses, but my eyesight seemed to have improved. My bust also grew. Luckily, the sports bra I was wearing was stretchy enough. I had been pretty flat previously. I was both pleased and ashamed that I was pleased to develop a modest bust. Comparing myself to what I'd seen in the locker room at school—and if I believed said locker-room bragging—I was probably a B-cup now as opposed to my previous AA. I was thankful that my breasts hadn't grown any bigger than that. I was also thankful that my arms still looked feminine despite their increase in bulk. My thighs had also bulked up and my hips were wider, but again the briefs were stretchy enough. The slight paunch I had developed had disappeared and I could see hints of defined abs in my now trim waist.

By now, I was positive that my skin had developed a bluish cast and something decidedly odd was happening to my legs and feet. I bent enough to see my feet and they had stretched out and elongated. Additionally, despite having bulked out, my thighs were too short. It was at that point that I noticed a blue appendage swinging behind my legs. It swung in time with the twitching in my tailbone. I started to hyperventilate. I had a tail!

Eventually I figured out that my feet were growing hooves in place of my toenails. This pushed me over the edge and I began to cry. If my life was hard as plain Taylor Hebert, how would it be as the blue, hooved, tailed freak?

I awoke with a start. I hadn't realized I had drifted off again. Tingles swept up and down my body—more than they had before. The tingles increased as time progressed. My eyes were drawn to a blue crystal that had formed in the liquid. I felt a deep connection to the crystal; I wasn't sure why. The tingles were starting to become really uncomfortable. I could see Leet outside the tank I was in clearly. At least he had fixed my eyesight when he made me a freak. He was looking at a console, frowning. The lights in the room outside the tank started to flicker as if a brown-out was happening. The tingles progressed to actual pain. My body started to hurt in places I hadn't had before. I could feel my tail and something weird around my neck.

The lights in the room went out. The air stopped in my mask momentarily before turning on again along with some emergency lights. The pain became almost unbearable before it peaked and new pain impulses stopped. The residual pain started to fade.

I found that I could now control my body better than I could before. The liquid was still thicker than water and difficult to move quickly in. I verified that I had a tail coming out of my tailbone and that my legs looked like I had two knees each—one that bent forward and one that bent backward. I had cloven hooves. I felt my neck and discovered that I had three small tentacles coming out of each side of it. I put my hands on my forehead and found that I had a small ridge extending vertically from my nose. It wasn't very prominent, but I could definitely feel it. The rest of my face also felt different than I was used to. The biggest change with my head though was the horns that extended from just inside my hairline. I grabbed some hair and pulled it into my field of view. It had changed color too. It was a darker blue than my skin. This made me sad above anything else, because I no longer had my mother's hair—which had been my one feminine feature that I had been proud of.

I felt a flare of anger—which I was sure didn't originate with me. I saw Leet smash a chair into the console. He looked like he was shouting—and I suspected he was cursing something. After a while, I could feel his anger start to be tinged with wariness and fear. He turned and fled the room.

I began to yell into my mask and bang on the side of the tank. Neither were effective, but they made me feel a little better. I began to wonder if I would be trapped in the tank until I starved to death. I was again drawn to the crystal. I reached out and grabbed it. Holding the crystal was comforting and I sorely needed comfort. I didn't want to lose it. Lacking a better place to put it, I stuffed it into my sports bra—marveling that I now had cleavage to hide things in. Perhaps ten minutes after Leet had left—although my sense of time was distorted by my ordeal, so I wasn't sure—I saw a man with a goatee and blue power armor enter the room. The figure of Armsmaster, the iconic leader of the local Protectorate, was easily recognizable. I banged on the side of the tank to catch his attention.

Armsmaster nodded to me and held up a finger in a classic "hold on a minute" gesture. He wandered around the room talking to himself or—more likely—a recorder. After he had explored the room, ending with a complete circumlocution of my tank, he took out a small notepad and pen. He wrote on it and showed it to me through the tank. "Can you read this?" it said.

I nodded to him and he wrote below the first line, "Concerned about biotinker. Called for Panacea. Will probably be an hour before she arrives."

Panacea was the world's premiere healer. We were lucky to have her in Brockton Bay. She was part of an independent hero team called New Wave that was made up of her extended family, but she often helped out the Protectorate according to Parahumans Online—more commonly known as PHO. Not having any choice, I nodded to let Armsmaster know that I understood.

I watched Armsmaster continue to wander around the lab, examining the equipment. The curiosity, interest, and a smug superiority that I felt from Armsmaster was more interesting to me than what he was looking at. Leet had promised me that I would be as strong as a cape. Had he given me powers in addition to making me look like a freak?

I thought about what I remembered about Jedi from _Star Wars_. The most obvious characteristic was that they used light sabers. I was about to dismiss that, seeing as I didn't have one, when the plans to make one invaded my head. The construction actually seemed pretty easy—if you had a kyber crystal. I wasn't sure what a kyber crystal was, but I thought the crystal stashed in my sports bra would work for one. I wondered if I was a tinker, but plans to make anything else eluded me.

Moving on, I remembered Ben Kenobi making the storm troopers pass them through a checkpoint. While a master/stranger power like that would be useful in avoiding my bullies, if I was ever discovered using it, I could be in serious trouble. With the Simurgh and Heartbreaker around, masters that could control people were hated and feared.

The other main ability that Jedi had was extrasensory perception and/or precognition. The fact that I could feel Leet and Armsmaster's emotions led me to believe that I had the ESP, at the very least. I think they could also use telekinesis? Those would probably be considered thinker and shaker powers. The other thing I remembered was that Jedi meditated to enhance their thinker powers.

Being bored with watching and listening to Armsmaster's feelings, which stayed pretty consistent, I tried to meditate. Clearing my mind was not easy—especially with the way my life had gone since my mom died, not to mention the last few days. After trying unsuccessfully to empty my mind, I decided to try a self-hypnosis trick I'd heard about. I relaxed all my muscles and then, starting at my toes and working my way up, I further relaxed them. Once I got to my head, I started over—further relaxing my body. The fact that I was floating in a tank actually helped with the relaxation—if I ignored the fact that a mad-scientist tinker had put me there.

Once I was good and relaxed, I concentrated on the part of me that was letting me feel Armsmaster. A rough 360º image of surfaces solidified in my mind. It was almost what I would think of as a sonar return, except that it was 3D. Living and once-living things stood out the strongest. Armsmaster and his feelings were a beacon. I could also feel the rats and bugs in the building, and to a lesser extent the wood framing of the building. Stone and metal were the faintest, but I could still sense them. Outside, surrounding the building, I could feel six people waiting patiently, but alertly. I assumed that they were PRT officers that had accompanied Armsmaster.

I figured out that I could increase my range by concentrating. However, the farther out my awareness was, the slower my range increased. I hadn't encountered anyone besides the presumed PRT officers when I felt two people enter my range from _above_. One radiated what I would have to call adorability due to Mom the English Professor's influence, but not in the most common contemporary sense of the word. She, and somehow the person felt feminine, didn't feel cute so much as lovable and worshipful—like Aphrodite coming down from Mount Olympus. The other had an odd mix of excitement and guilt with an underlying sense of world-weariness. They stopped briefly by one of the presumed PRT officers and then entered the building.

When I felt them enter the room, I opened my eyes. As expected, I saw the familiar costumed forms of Glory Girl and Panacea. Glory Girl was Panacea's sister and teammate. She was known to be an "Alexandria Package"—a flying brute. With my concentration now on what I was seeing, my awareness of the building and its environs faded. I could still feel impressions from those in the room. Glory Girl's output was by far the strongest; it felt like she was broadcasting it. However, with a little effort I could ignore it. Panacea's world weariness was now most prominent, but there was now an underlying fascination which was still tinged with guilt. I was surprised and disturbed that one of the world's best healers and greatest heroes had so much guilt and sadness in her emotional makeup, but decided it was none of my business unless I somehow managed to become friends with her—which I judged unlikely at the moment.

Both girls stared at me when they entered the room. Glory Girl seemed to realize she was staring and smiled and waved. Panacea nodded to me and then went to talk to Armsmaster while Glory Girl looked around.

After a few minutes of talking to Panacea, Armsmaster approached my tank and took out his collapsible halberd and extended it. He fiddled with its controls and then sank the spiky blade at the end of the polearm into the tank and then twisted it. He withdrew the tip a little so that some liquid dribbled down the side of the tank. Panacea approached and touched the liquid. She talked to Armsmaster some more. He took out a small vial and filled it with the liquid. When he was done, he withdrew the halberd and the liquid drained out of the tank.

Once the liquid was drained, I reached up to pull off my mask, but Armsmaster shook his head. "Wait until Panacea can check you before removing the mask," he said. I could hear him now with the hole in the tank and the liquid drained.

I nodded in acknowledgement. I was unsteady on my new hoofed legs, and so I let go of the mask and leaned against the side of the tank opposite his hole. He reinserted the blade of the halberd into his hole. This time he inserted it deep enough that the axe part of the halberd head was engaged with the tank wall. He used the halberd to cut a large hole into the side of the tank. The blade must have been incredibly sharp because it looked like he was cutting through it like butter. After he withdrew his halberd, he stuck it into the middle of the cut-out section. He fiddled with the controls again and the head of the polearm detached from the pole section, but it remained connected to the shaft by a cable. He walked two dozen paces away from the tank and then stood in a classic, at rest position with the pole of his halberd extended at 45 degrees between his body and the ground. The head of the halberd began to retract, pulling the cut-out section away from the tube. That part of the production was probably unnecessary, but it looked cool.

"Alright, Ma'am," he said. "Step forward as far as you can and stick your hand out so that Panacea can touch you. Avoid the edge as it will be sharp."

I nodded and shuffled around the tank to the hole. My balance was off and my legs were a drastically different shape—both of which forced to walk on my hooves like tip toes. I stuck my arm through it. Surprisingly, my tail helped me keep my balance somewhat despite its relatively short length of maybe two feet.

"Do I have your permission to examine you?" Panacea asked.

I nodded again and she touched me. Her eyes widened upon touching me, but otherwise it was anti-climactic.

"She's healthy, stable, and not contagious," Panacea said, "at least not through the air or by touch. She's also completely human—more so than some Case 53's I've seen. The only oddity is a strange organelle present in her cells that's about the size of mitochondria. Because of that, I can't guarantee that any of her fluids that contain cells or cell-residue aren't contagious without some experimentation."

I was relieved to hear her report, but slightly incredulous at her diagnosis as still being "completely human." I looked like a blue goat hybrid.

"Would you be willing to accompany us to the PRT building to oversee the testing?" Armsmaster asked the healer.

She nodded in response.

"How is she still completely human?" asked Glory Girl, somewhat insensitively mirroring my thoughts.

"She has 23 pairs of chromosomes and human genes," her sister responded. "The instructions for the extras are encoded in various regions of her DNA that are typically not expressed in most people."

"Her junk DNA was replaced with DNA that makes her blue and have horns, hooves, and a tail?" Glory Girl asked in clarification.

"Strictly speaking, it's not accurate to call it 'junk DNA,'" Panacea responded, "but that's more or less true."

"Can she remove the breathing apparatus?" Armsmaster asked.

Panacea nodded and I gratefully pulled off the mask. I briefly worried about outing my identity, but realistically, I looked nothing like I used to and wouldn't be able to hide my now distinctive look regardless—unless Leet had given me some kind of changer ability.

Armsmaster offered his arm to me, and I carefully stepped through the hole. I smiled at him and then grabbed it in order to balance myself as I stepped through the hole.

As he let go of me and I worked on finding my balance, he said, "I'm Armsmaster, leader of the Protectorate East-North-East. These are Panacea and Glory Girl of New Wave, a Protectorate affiliate."

I nodded. "I know. I grew up in Brockton Bay."

"You have your memories?" he asked, sounding surprised. He withdrew a card from a belt pocket. He handed it to me. It had a picture of a stylized C—almost like the Greek letter omega turned on its side. "Do you recognize this symbol?"

I shook my head. "Never seen it before."

"Many capes with a non-human appearance have that symbol tattooed on their bodies somewhere. These are the Case 53s that Panacea mentioned. They also don't remember anything before waking up changed. It's a mystery where they come from."

"It's no mystery what happened to me. Leet changed me with something he called a Jedifier," I told him.

Glory Girl groaned. "Leet did this? You're lucky you didn't explode."

"Jedifier?" Armsmaster asked, looking at Glory Girl in irritation for interrupting him. "Do you know what game it came from?"

"The original Jedifier was about making people into Jedi—like from _Star Wars_ ," I responded. "He modified it to try and influence the powers-that-be to import a game from Earth Aleph called _World of Warcraft_. He didn't seem to be all there. Most of the time he acted like he was having a conversation with Uber—despite being all alone. That's all I know."

"Uber is confirmed dead as of last Thursday," Armsmaster commented. "Oni Lee is the prime suspect."

I nodded. "I heard the same at school," I commented.

"School?" Armsmaster asked. "How old are you?"

Glory Girl looked like she wanted to interrupt again, but held her peace.

"Fifteen," I answered.

"Interesting," he said. "You look like you could be any age from fifteen to thirty—although it is hard to tell with your non-standard features." He paused. "Do you know where Leet is?"

"Something went wrong with the console and he threw a fit and left—maybe ten or fifteen minutes before you arrived," I replied.

"Can you tell me anything else about this equipment?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Just that he said it would make me 'as strong as a cape' so that I could be his new partner."

Armsmaster hummed to himself. "I highly recommend that you accompany me to PRT headquarters. This would also allow us to find out whether or not your fluids are contagious—which is something you'll need to know. We can also help you with power testing so that you can understand your new body and any powers you may have and use them safely. We can register you similarly to a Case 53 so that people aren't as alarmed by your new appearance. Have you figured out if you can change back?"

I thought about it, but couldn't find any mental switches that would change me back. I shook my head. "If I can change back, I don't know how. What happens if my blood is contagious?"

Panacea said, "You'll be under the same auspices as someone with a similarly contagious disease such as HIV or hepatitis. It will be your responsibility to make sure all bodily waste is properly disposed of and that you take reasonable care in the case that you are injured. If someone else were to contract your condition, you could be found civilly liable if it is judged that you did not take enough care. If it is the case that your fluids are contagious, I would recommend that you limit your activities to avoid injury. I could get you some pamphlets discussing lifestyles for people with similarly contagious conditions."

Not knowing how Dad would feel about my changes and being a little overwhelmed, I said, "I'll come with you. Can you contact my dad?"

"I can have Ms. Militia collect him so that he can meet us at the PRT building if you would like," he said with a nod. "I'm obligated to tell you that by voluntarily tell the Protectorate your identity and your guardian's, you are waiving the customary anonymity that most parahumans enjoy."

I had already told a villain my name; telling three heroes was a step down in severity from that.

"My name is Taylor Hebert," I told him. "My father is Daniel Hebert. He's probably pretty worried. I've been missing for at least two days."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Yes, it's somewhat gratuitous to make her into a Draenei Jedi, but this is Leet were talking about. Once he got over whether or not doing a mashup was selling out, he'd jump all over it.


	11. Jedification Chapter 2

Armsmaster directed me to ride back to PRT Headquarters in the back of a PRT van. I would rather have ridden on the back of Armsmaster's iconic motorcycle. It _was_ the most famous vehicle in Brockton Bay. On the other hand, I was bright blue with horns and a tail and was dressed only in a sports bra and cycling shorts. People would have stared and at the moment I was grateful for the anonymity.

I was getting used to walking, but didn't know if I would ever be able to sit in a normal sear ever again. Not only were my legs proportioned differently, but my tail made it uncomfortable. Sitting in the back of the van, I tried to surreptitiously examine myself. The weirdest things were my neck tentacles. In my limited experience, they seemed to function somewhat like a cat's whiskers. They picked up vibrations and changes in air currents. They seemed to be more for locating sounds rather than distinguishing between sounds. They supplemented my ears rather than replacing them. They also worked with the part of my thinker-like senses that I could access while not meditating. Of course, it wasn't that helpful riding in the back of the van. Speaking of ears, from what I could tell from feeling them, mine were now pointed, like an elf's.

When we got to the PRT Headquarters, Armsmaster met us in an underground garage and he took charge of me again. Glory Girl had flown Panacea here; she would meet us later. He took me to a security checkpoint.

By this point, I had more or less mastered walking on my altered legs as long as I didn't concentrate too much on it. I was a little bit surprised, because I had heard that people who had to relearn how to walk spent months in physical therapy. I did feel something guiding my actions and smoothing out my motions—lending them a grace I had previously lacked. I wasn't sure if this meant the Force was real or if Leet's machine had built new instincts and reflexes into me.

The most noticeable aspect to my new gait was how my hips swung more than they had before. I was unsure if it was due to my tail, my new leg proportions, some combination, or if Leet had messed with my mannerisms intentionally.

"Do you have an alias you want to use?" Armsmaster asked. "Even though you've disclosed your name to me, I don't recommend that you allow it to become general knowledge."

I shook my head. Picking a "cape name" was one of the last things on my mind.

"Is Azure okay, at least temporarily?" he asked after a brief pause.

I nodded.

They had me stand in a spot and took a picture. After a few minutes they handed me an ID card on a lanyard. It had my picture, my new cape name, the words "Special Escort Required."

"Special Escort?" I asked.

"A normal escort badge would specify where you can go," Armsmaster explained. "A special escort can go anywhere on base, but requires a member of the Protectorate, Wards, or a PRT Officer with a rank of Lieutenant or higher to accompany them everywhere other than certain conference or waiting rooms."

I nodded him and followed him to a conference room where we met with Aegis, the leader of the Wards. Aegis wore a rust-red body suit with a shield emblem. The suit covered most of his body.

Armsmaster cleared his throat and said, "Ms. Militia has contacted your father, he will be here in about half an hour. Aegis is here to answer any questions you might have until he gets here. I'll return then."

Aegis started with small talk. Unfortunately, I hadn't made small talk with anyone for over a year and my responses were abrupt. I was also nervous about what my dad would say about my changes. It was a little awkward until I thought to ask him about the other Wards: Gallant, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Vista, and Shadow Stalker. He gave glowing reports about the other Wards, describing their powers and personality. I did detect a certain amount of irritation and frustration when he talked about Shadow Stalker, but I didn't pester him about that. He seemed like the type that did not like to speak badly about anyone.

Eventually, the door opened and Armsmaster entered the room. He was followed by my father, Panacea, and finally Ms. Militia and an unknown man in a business casual outfit. My father looked around the room, his eyes skipping over me at first. However, since Aegis and I were the only people in the room before he entered, his eyes settled on me relatively quickly. His gaze was searching, I could tell that he was looking for traces of me in my new appearance.

"Taylor?" he asked with trepidation.

I turned away, not wanting to see the rejection. My new empathy didn't sense anything from him other than worry, but I wasn't sure how sensitive it was or what he was worried about. "Yes," I said softly.

He rushed over and gave me a strong hug. "I was so worried about you! What happened to you?" he asked.

I relaxed a little knowing he wasn't going to reject me outright.

"Before you tell your story, Miss Hebert," Armsmaster interjected, "I want to introduce Deputy Director Michael Renick of the Parahuman Response Team East-North-East and Ms. Militia, my second in command."

We shook hands and murmured polite greetings.

Afterward, Armsmaster continued, "I would also like to tell you that I've invited Dragon to this meeting via teleconference. As one of the premiere Tinkers in the world, I believe her input would be invaluable. Would you and your father consent to her listening in?"

I will admit to being a little bit overwhelmed. Dragon was not just one of the premiere Tinkers in the world, she _was_ the premiere Tinker in the world. Her only competition in that respect was Hero, who was dead, and Armsmaster himself, who was a distant second. "That would be fine," I squeaked out.

My father, who still felt confused, nodded in agreement.

A video screen, which hung on the conference room wall, blinked on and an image of a woman's upper body appeared on it. The image was a little too perfect in the way that computer graphics were. Obviously, it was an avatar rather than Dragon's real appearance. Still, the movements and gestures the avatar made were quite lifelike. "Hello, Taylor, Mr. Hebert," she said. "I do hope your morning improves from here on out. I understand you've had a rough couple of days."

My father and I murmured thanks and well wishes. At that point, I began to tell my story of how I ended up as a blue goat hybrid. The story was interrupted not long after it began by my father's angry voice.

"Who took your mother's flute?" he demanded.

I cringed slightly as I spoke, "Emma and her friends."

Dad was floored with shock. "Emma?"

The shock didn't last long and I could feel his anger rising.

"She and her friends, two of them in particular, have been bullying me since Freshman year started," I admitted shamefully. "The staff at Winslow blame me whenever something happens."

"Can you tell us the names of the thieves?" Renick asked. "We can work with the police to see if we can get your mother's flute back."

I nod. "I doubt that you'll be able to find it, but their names are Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess, and Madison Clements."

Everyone in the room other than my Dad and Panacea recognized the name "Sophia Hess" and were clearly upset about it. By Ms. Militia's emotional response, I could tell she recognized the name "Emma Barnes" as well.

"How could Emma do this to you?" Dad demanded.

I cringed again and Dad's emotions went from anger to shame. He gave me an apologetic look.

"I don't know," I admitted. "She hasn't been the same since I came home from Summer Camp right before Freshman year.

Dad sat and fumed, while the Heroes in the room, minus Panacea, exchanged surreptitious glances with the Deputy Director. I was debating whether to ask where they knew Sophia from when Renick said, "Why don't you continue with your Story, Miss Hebert. We'll see what we can do to help you with your bullying problems. We have a good working relationship with the police."

I could tell that he wasn't being completely honest about how the PRT and the police felt about each other, but continued my story anyway, explaining about my capture by Leet, his ramblings, his description of the "Jedifier," and the results my being forced into it.

When I was done telling my story, Armsmaster said, "The PRT is in the process of transporting the tinkertech that did this to you to my lab at the Rig." The Rig was the Protectorate's headquarters located on a repurposed oil rig out in the bay. "It's possible that by examining Leet's equipment we can find a way to reverse the process or give you some control over it. I must admit, however, that either case is unlikely." He nodded toward Panacea. "Panacea, would you go over what you found during your initial examination and what additional steps need to be taken?"

Panacea cleared her throat and said, "I've examined Taylor and verified that her condition is not contagious under normal circumstances. She is not a parahuman under the normal definition of the word because she does not have a Corona Pollentia or a Gemma, which are the organs that allow a parahuman to operate their powers. These organs are found in the brains of most parahumans. It's possible that she has them, but they're disguised or in an abnormal place so that I can't easily recognize them, but I doubt it. What caused her changes are small organelles that can be found in each of her cells about the same size as mitochondria—in fact they share many things in common with mitochondria. However, their function is clearly different…" Panacea trailed off her explanation because Dragon had started giggling.

Everyone turned to look at the viewscreen. Panacea was clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Panacea," she said. "I'm not laughing at you; I'm just amused by the fact that Leet managed to invent midi-chlorians."

"Midi-chlorians?" I asked.

Dragon explained, "Midi-chlorians were introduced in the movie _The Phantom Menace_ and are microscopic organisms found in all living cells in the _Star Wars_ fictional setting in a symbiotic relationship with other lifeforms that allow communication with the Force. If you're going to be a Jedi, you need a high midi-chlorian count in your blood!" She started giggling again.

Dad started grumbling under his breath about prequels, Aleph Lucas, and "explaining things that didn't need it." He didn't stop grumbling until Panacea glared him into submission.

"Anyway, before I was interrupted…" She paused to glare at Dad and Dragon's viewscreen. "…I was going to explain that these _midi-chlorians_ are causing her unusual appearance by making changes to her genes in the parts of her chromosomes that are not usually expressed and causing them to be expressed. There is also a regenerative effect which is why she changed over the course of hours rather than months and why things like the shape of her bones and teeth changed despite being previously set in their adult, permanent size. Ultimately, I expect that she could have children with a normal human."

"Really?" I asked, both shocked and embarrassed. That answered a concern that I hadn't realized that I had.

She nodded. "However, it's likely that your children and any children of your female children would your unusual appearance."

"Draenei," Dragon interjected. "That's the name of the race from the _World of Warcraft_ game that Leet copied."

Panacea glared at her, as if daring her to say more. Dragon's avatar simply smiled gently at her. When Dragon didn't say anything else, she continued. "Your children and the children of your mainline female descendants would likely retain your Draenei appearance. Since midi-chlorians are propagated through your cells like mitochondria, it's likely that the children of your male descendants would not, absent some other factor, have a Draenei appearance because their sperm would not carry midi-chlorians while your eggs would."

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that for a while," I murmured softly.

"Best you find out what you can now," Panacea said firmly, "so you aren't shocked later. The organelles themselves are stable, so whatever it is that causes Leet's tech to explode seems to have missed you since you were operated on by one of his machines rather than Leet himself."

"His Jedifier barely lasted long enough to change me," I grumbled.

Panacea shrugged as if to say it wasn't her area of expertise and said, "I need to run some experiments to see if the cells in your bodily fluids are contagious."

Over the next half hour, Panacea collected a fair amount of blood as well as some saliva and a tissue sample. Interestingly, I healed rather quickly from both wounds due to the regenerative effect she mentioned.

"Regeneration isn't a Jedi power," I commented.

Dragon looked like she was going to comment, but held her peace after Panacea glared at her.

"As I said before, it's a side effect of the way the midi-chlorians forced your body into its current shape," Panacea offered, still glaring at Dragon—daring her to interrupt again.

"Have you experienced any of the Jedi powers from the movies, Taylor?" Ms. Militia asked.

"Just empathy and a kind of sixth sense," I told her.

"Sixth sense?" she prompted.

"If I meditate I can get a mental map of where things are," I said. "It works best on living things and things that used to be living, like wood. It works on people best of all—I think because it synergizes with my empathy."

"Well," said Panacea, "I can tell you that your blood and saliva in small amounts are not contagious, because your midi-chlorians need a 'critical mass' to stay active. However, you should still treat your blood as a bio hazard, and you definitely don't want to donate organs and while theoretically safe, giving blood is probably a bad idea." She blushed and then quickly blurted out, "Sex is likely okay, but you should discuss the risks with any future partner."

I felt flushed. Did I still turn red? Probably not—with my new coloring, I probably turned purple when I blushed. I regained control of my embarrassment and nodded. "Thank you, Panacea. It's a relief to find that out."

She smirked at me. "Well, we can't have everyone turning into Smurfs, can we?"

"Can you change her back?" Dad asked.

Panacea shook her head. "I'd have to eliminate all her midi-chlorians at once before I reversed the physical changes and I don't think I could. I also don't do brains, so that would leave a large concentration of them in her body that would eventually turn her back."

Dad sighed. "Thanks for looking anyway."

Panacea murmured her goodbyes to everyone and left the room.

Renick cleared his throat. "We'd like to discuss the Wards with both of you as well as offer power testing."

What followed was a half hour of fairly intense back and forth between my dad and Renick with occasional interjections by Ms. Militia, Armsmaster, and even Aegis. Due to my empathy, I could tell that Dad wanted me to join, but didn't want the appearance of being too eager. They discussed schedules, the amount of crimefighting that the Wards did, public appearances, image rights, and other issues. I listened, but didn't comment much. I was a bit put off by how much the Wards seemed to focus on public relations over actual crimefighting, but realized that the PRT and Protectorate wanted to avoid the issue of child soldiering as much as they could. Officially, the Wards were a training team rather than an actual hero team.

Besides being reluctant to be relegated to PR work, I was reluctant to join the Wards because my experiences with people my own age had been extremely off-putting for more than a year. My faith in the powers-that-be was also extremely low. On the other hand, there was my unusual appearance and the fact that I had no expectation of a secret identity. Being affiliated with the PRT would help with that. There was also the strong possibility that I had some kind of master power. Masters scared people. If it was even suspected that I could do a "Jedi Mind Trick" villains would come after me—either to forcibly recruit me or to end me. Heroes would be wary of me unless there was a guarantee of good behavior.

The discussion was winding down and Dad turned to me and asked, "What do you think, Taylor?"

I could be non-committal and tell after we found out if I were a master or not, but honestly, there was no way I was willing to go back to Winslow looking like this. "Is it true that all the Wards go to Arcadia?"

"The majority of them do," Renick said. "We encourage it for our High Schoolers."

I frowned. There was a bit of guilt present in him and the three heroes when he said that. I decided to ignore it for now. "If you can get me into Arcadia, I'm inclined to join up."

Everyone in the room felt pleased with my announcement.

"Can we do power testing and a meet and greet before we decide for sure?" I asked.

They agreed, but I felt a tiny bit of apprehension from them. Was that over my potential master powers or me meeting the Wards?

Renick excused himself. As we got up to follow the heroes to the Power Testing room, Dragon said, "I've prepared a list of potential powers evidenced by Jedi in the films and also companion materials such as novels. I've emailed it to Armsmaster, so that they can be tested."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Why did I stop here (for now, at least)? Showing that Leet had managed to make midi-chlorians and Danny being irritated over it tickled me-writing a power testing scene or a Wards meet and greet, not so much. However, see the bonus below for the outcome of the power testing.

Does Taylor really have the Force? No. Leet basically created some symbiotic microorganisms that have shard-like abilities and can hack into the shard network to a limited degree so that they can mimic the Force as seen in the _Star Wars_ movies.

* * *

 **Bonus: Excerpts from Azure's Threat Report**

Azure's unique and non-standard "trigger event" as a result of tinkertech rather than an activated corona pollentia gives her a broader than normal threat profile.

 **Master/Stranger 2:** Azure can make suggestions to individuals that they will follow much like how hypnosis is shown in pop culture. These suggestions do not extend to making an individual do something that runs counter to their personality or morality. Strong willpower or alertness will nullify or make the suggestions weaker. Distance from Azure also weakens the suggestions. Azure's master abilities can also be considered a stranger threat, especially in conjunction with her thinker abilities. See Obi-wan Kenobi's iconic "These are not the droids you're looking for" scene as well as his infiltration of the Death Star in the movie _Star Wars_.

 **Tinker 0:** Azure has shown the ability to make and maintain one tinkertech item only: a plasma sword in the fashion of a "light saber" from _Star Wars_. So far she has only been able to make one plasma sword due to requiring a seemingly unique item to manufacture another.

 **Thinker 8:** Azure has several thinker abilities that make her a potent combat/sense/social thinker. She has extrasensory perception that gives her a subconscious awareness of the position of objects around her. This is especially effective against people as it works in conjunction with her empathy. Meditation increases the range of both of these abilities. She also has demonstrated short-term precognition in combat in the form of hunches. She may also have enhanced skill learning abilities as her combat abilities began at what would be considered normal for an untrained youth, but increased rapidly over the course of a week. At this time, it is unknown if her precognition extends to anything lasting longer than a few seconds. Her empathy also allows her a substantial advantage in conversations and social encounters as it allows her to determine how truthful someone is being and gives insight into motivations.

 **Shaker 4:** Azure has shown the ability to use telekinesis to move objects. This ability is variable as it has been linked to her willpower and concentration. Hence rating it at this time is difficult. This threat rating may need to be adjusted in the future.

 **Mover 2:** Azure has peak human physical capabilities that work in conjunction with her shaker ability to make her incredibly maneuverable in the manner of a hurdle mover. She also has the stamina of a marathon runner over long distances and the speed of a sprinter over short distances. See Yoda's fight with Darth Sidious from _Revenge of the Sith_ as an example of her projected short-distance movement capabilities.

 **Brute 5:** Azure is a dynamic brute due to her shaker, thinker, and tinker abilities and a regen brute due to an automatic self-healing ability. The regen ability has not been tested extensively due to ethical concerns in purposely injuring a minor, however, it does heal minor cuts in seconds. She has shown the reflexes to deflect beanbag rounds with her tinkertech plasma sword. It is conjectured that she could deflect small arms fire with it. Her tinkertech plasma sword has also shown the ability to cut through most standard metals and building materials.

* * *

 **Threat Report Notes:** Why Tinker 0? Powers in Worm are rated by the PRT based on threat (i.e., what it takes to contain the parahuman) rather than by raw power. While technically speaking Azure is a tinker, she does not present a standard tinker threat, only having one tinkertech item. The threat from her light saber is rolled into her brute rating.

Why is her "Jedi Mind Trick" labeled Master/Stranger? While on the surface the "Jedi Mind Trick" is a clear master power, it's main threat is as an infiltration aid. This rating has probably been influenced by her testers/raters having seen how Obi-wan used it in _Star Wars_.

Brute 5? Really? Despite being relatively squishy, Jedi fight like brutes rather successfully. If you put Mace Windu or Yoda up against Hookwolf in close quarters, you'd probably give the Master Jedi the edge and he's a Brute 7.

That's a lot of threat categories. Yes, it is. Some of the ratings (the derived ratings) would be kept classified. The ratings that would be disclosed to her and her team would be: Tinker 0/Master 2/Shaker 4/Thinker 8, and the only reason the Tinker 0 would be mentioned is because she can obviously make one tinkertech item. One reason she wouldn't be told that she's got a brute threat rating is that they would rather she not think she can fight Lung or Hookwolf as a brute while she's a Ward.


End file.
